Finally, the background to the story that rocked the operatic world earlier this summer. Peter Stein withdrew from the Met’s Boris Godunov “because he felt offended by his treatment at the United States Consulate in Berlin when he applied for a work visa and by a lack of sympathy from Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, over confrontations with bureaucracy. ” [NYT]
Once again it takes an out-of-towner to write sensibly about Peter Gelb and the Met, though the “out of town” here refers only to geography: Anne Midgette is at heart and soul a New York newshen. [The Classical Beat]
The good news is that the Met reduced its operating deficit for 2008-2009 to $1.3 million, down from $12.2 million a year earlier. The bad news is the company’s assets fell by $72.6 million (down to $422.7 million) primarily because of investment losses. In other news, the Met paid James Levine a bit more than Peter Gelb received for the fiscal year, slightly over $1.5 million. (La Cieca will now sit back and listen to the online explanations of how unfair this is, because Jimmy actually makes music whereas Gelb just sits in an office all day thinking about how much he hates opera.) [via Bloomberg]
Intern JJ here, ready to go with live coverage of the Met's 2010-2011 press announcement, which will begin in about 30 minutes. See you there, cher public! Latest coverage begins after the jump. Read more »
The arts journalist La Cieca would like be when she grows up, Zachary Woolfe, continues his analysis of Peter Gelb's Met tenure -- now all the more interesting since Joe Volpe has returned to the fold. [Observer]
Okay, La Cieca has sifted all the evidence thus far, and she has done Pravda-style scrutiny of what was said and what was left unsaid (particularly by Peter Gelb) in the most recent New York Times analysis of the issue, and ignoring the most recent Jeremiads from Rome on account of the fact that pretty much everybody has come to the conclusion that Franco Zeffirelli is gaga. Read more »
Wow! That Daniel J. Wakin story appearing in tomorrow's Times has everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at Luc Bondy's rear end! Read more »
"The Metropolitan Opera's Grand Revitalization Act" on the PBS NewsHour. Read more »
Cher Public