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peace! bread! balcony!

by | 10:07 am | Aug 14, 2008

It seems the revolution has already begun at the Metropolitan Opera.

This bit of disgruntled graffiti left over from Monday’s subscription exchange massacre reads, “Oh, really?? Thanks for nothing!! An Angry Subscriber!!”

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9 Comments

9 comments

  • BeenThere says:

    Having worked at the Met for several years and I mean several, it is clear that Peter is really about Peter and not the company or the patrons or the subscribers or the singers. He wants his fancy car, house, vacations, all paid for by the generosity of the ever increasing annual support that must be given by the board, and the increase in ticket prices and at the sacrifice of the personnel, especially those who are in administration. He does not apologize to the ticket buyers and subscribers and patrons – he just says that is the way it is and you’ll have to pay for it. He has accomplished some remarkable things but at what price? Probably the art and the love of opera that so many people who worked for the company helped make it a place that used to be fun to work for – not anymore.

    on August 14, 2008 at 11:50 AM
  • High C's @ 4:20 says:

    Couldnt anyone have washed Renee’s hair before her cover shoot for the new “Opera News”? Usually she takes a pretty good pic but this one aint it…

    on August 15, 2008 at 1:15 PM
  • La Cieca says:

    Anybody got a scan of the “unwashed” Renee photo? Send it to lacieca@parterre.com.

    on August 15, 2008 at 1:25 PM
  • Papagano says:

    As for disgruntled subscription holders… All i can say is you get what you pay for. If you want tickets to a specific performance then buy them. Don’t just pick up a “grab bag” and hope to get something you want. If you insist on buying cheep tickets you can always try Price Line. Maybe William Shater can “negotiate” you a deal.

    on August 15, 2008 at 2:45 PM
  • High C's @ 4:20 says:

    give me a sec

    on August 15, 2008 at 3:02 PM
  • kashania says:

    BeenThere: I don’t know if that’s really fair. Sure, Gelb gets a huge salary but so do many leaders of major arts organizations (New York, in particular, seems to draw very high salaries). He’s not trying to raise more money (through fundraising and ticket sales) to pay for his salary. He’s doing it to pay for his expensive plans for the Met. The increased number of new productions, the star replacements (Giordani, Alagna), and the HD cinecasts (which I doubt pay for themselves) all cost extra money.

    on August 15, 2008 at 3:17 PM
  • kashania says:

    Papageno: I agree completely. Some people are so used to getting whatever they want that they lose sight of reality. If one is strategically buying a subscription to save money (nothing wrong with that) and exchange for the shows he/she really wants to see, then there is an element of risk, i.e. one might not get exactly what one wants. People who have such exact specifications for what they want should just buy a full-priced tickets for exactly what they want. Things like limited availabilty and service charges come with flexible subscripton deals.

    on August 15, 2008 at 4:03 PM
  • whatever says:

    kashania, i must disagree. first, i do NOT buy my subscription to get a discount (the discount only works out to $5 a seat, anyway). i do, however, buy a subscription with the understanding that it comes with MORE BENEFITS than buying single tickets — benefits like making exchanges. the Met goes to great lengths to explain its exchange benefits to subscribers, and the legitimate topic of debate here is whether or not they’ve lived up to those commitments.

    on August 16, 2008 at 10:27 AM
  • beenthere says:

    Kashania, it is clear that you have bought into the great pr machine Peter has established here. The Met is going into its endowment every year, the “new” productions are not “new” but co-produced from somewhere else, only one is new in the 09 season. Star replacements don’t mean the best singers and quite frankly the HD series may be harmful for the Met in the longrun, eating into their middle and low patron members who will figure out that they can give 150.00 annually to have the right for the HD broadcasts and not pay $3,000 to 20,000 for the right to have tickets they don’t really want or need. A massive amount of press and pr, but is it an artistic vision or just a good business plan that will only be sustained by ever rising patronage and ticket costs..When Agnes Varis has decided not to underwrite the 20.00 rush program at $2.2 million a year, what then? Those people will not pay 175.00 to see the opera. It is fair to challenge Peter on his salary – it is not for profit. He is definitely making a profit.

    on August 18, 2008 at 3:03 PM