“What do I look like, an ATM?”
The 1990s never ended, it seems. Joe Volpe back at the Met, and his one-time sidekick Alberto Vilar back in the news. The Felonious Philanthropist, donor of abut $12 million to the Met during Volpe’s tenure, was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison for such charges as securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. [NYT]
Well Vilar can play being ‘being every of his other victims’ for the next nine years. Don’t know how deperate prison people get but for insuranc purposes maybe he better be wearing a pair of cast iron underpants. No longer a VIP around opera circles, he might be just be singing (high C’s that is) in the showers.
Again with the lighthearted giggling about rape? Shame.
david, kelly, dylan, brenda, brandon, donna, steve, nerd girl and some guy!
Andrea! Some respect please. And the guy who sort of accidentally shot himself.
Felonious Philanthropist! Love it.
Cieca’s earlier descriptor “Felonthropist” (right?) was better.
felonthropist
The Trousered-Your-Millions Philanthropist!
Do you think the Met should now return the millions they got from
him -shouldn’t all tainted gifts be
returned to the source , after all it
was tainted money – should not
restitution be made to the people
it was taken from ..It seems the Met couldn’t name enough things after him while the money rolled in and long before this trail when the money stopped they were furious and down came all reference to him.Well he got what he deserved
and the met behaved like … the
word escapes me ,I think it might begin with a w
That’s a tricky question. Though returning the money might be the morally ideal solution, it would mean shutting down the Met immediately, given the financial stress the house is under in the Great Recession. Is it worth putting hundreds of people – chorus, Met-based soloists, crew, production staff, admin staff, etc. – on unemployment?
Also, Vilar probably is not the only donor who came to his money in a way of which we would not approve. Should the Met refuse donations from people who work at companies like Walmart which have questionable employee practices? Should it refuse money from people who also support homophobic causes? I’m afraid that would be the end of the Met.
If the tainted money idea were to be implemented wholesale in our society, we would need to return to a barter system. And don’t get me started on the subject of the Koch Theater.
Bye the bye, Vilar was acknowledge just this season as the donor who made Le Nozze di Figaro possible in the current production.
If you were a victim of Mr. Vilars’
dirty deeds and lost all your money only to learn some of what he manipulated from you ended up
subsidizing the staging of the latest opera to make himself look good and continue the scam game
would you smile it off or care if
the house survived or not. It is
an known fact there are major
houses that have a department to hustle money out of vulnerable
folk to keep themselves going .
Recalll an example a few weeks back.?And if the Met is under great stress how about great
salary cut backs for Gelb, Levine
he of many jobs ,the orchestra ,
the general staff etc . Fat chance! Morality in this situation
depends on whose ox is being gored.
I’m sure that the people whose money he stole would have quite a different opinion. Your entire statement is astonishing.
Astonishing in what way ?
And what opinion would they have if they learned some of their stolen money ended up
subsidizing opera performances
other than saying thank heavens he didn’t give money stolen from me to some frivolous cause.The line
waiting to get back whatever
money they can in the similar Madoff scam is endless .
REALLY? I love opera as much as the next Parterre addict but 1) there’s no denying that it’s fundamentally frivolous and 2) maybe the people, uh, want their money back?
OT: do you guys think Lise Lindstrom can sing Norma? I was just thinking about hoe Turandots seem to have the weight for Norma. I mean, i know that the agility needs to be there as well, but….
Yes. Can she sing it well? That remains to be seen. Can she sing it to the satisfaction of the harpies who gather here? Never! Will she get a chance to sing it in public? I suspect that The Met, seeing their beloved Gulghina come a cropper and the respected Papian stagger off bedraggled will announce the return of Norma to the repertory when cobras can tap dance.
Betsy Ann, to be fair — still a valid impulse here — would you
not agree Gulighena is pretty much all over, and Mme. Papian
(who always deserves respect) has already set sail? I would guess
so, thus Mme. Lindstrom may prove valuable. As Susan Graham
might say, ‘Their ships have sailed.’
Betsy Ann, I want you to email me because you are both
interesting and old — a superb combination! Ask La C.
Thank you Mrmyster, Santa Fe and environs have produced some fine folk of which I feel you are one. But for several reasons I decline.
1. I don’t know how seriously to take the expostulations of other posters but under the circumstances I have no desire to give even the appearance of a cabal.
2. When I offered to send out my free cast-offs, which are really of more value than they seem, I was unable to set up the proper lines of communication.
3. I really wish to retain my anonymity, again for several reasons, and to communicate with you offline would compromise that desire, which comes close to being a need.
Give my best regards to . . . to . . . well, to whatever is out there.
One wonders if Domingo will ever recoup money he reputedly laid out from his own resources to make up for the defaulted pledges from Vilar for certain projects. I wonder who will be on the visitor list to the Vilar incarceration site and hope that he’s not deprived of friends who might be able want to visit him now and then.
If he got paid for his conducting dates at the Met and his appearances on stage he is repaid
and then some .
Sig. Fakor: As I recall the money Domingo came up witih
for Vilar was not massive – not Wall Street. As I recall,
around a million. That amount Domingo would never
miss. He is an enormously wealthy man and getting
richer all the time. As Patrice Munsel said when
introducing Pla. at a late 1990s concert, “Ladies and
Gentlemen, no doubt he is a tenor … all the way to
the bank.” Mme. Munsel is a bright lady!
Even if it were $50 -- friends don’t treat friends like that.
Intermission:
Well, QPF, sure! Of course you are right.
But, I strongly doubt the eccentric Vilar is
anybody’s friend. Few were in Vilar’s
line of work.