La Cieca hears that the new regime at the Metropolitan Opera (or the MET Opera, as it will henceforth be called) is moving forward with the recording of selected 2006-2007 live performances, to be sold via download on the “iTunes” model. An agreement reached a couple of weeks ago with the American Federation of Musicians specifically facilitates this sort of recording, and it appears that Peter Gelb‘s MET will be among the first American opera companies to move into this (one hopes) lucrative field. Ironically, this bonanza may not be shared by some of opera’s biggest stars who have exclusive recording contracts, e.g., Angela Gheorghiu and Denyce Graves.