A source close to the Met tells La Cieca that “all the house’s union representatives” will meet with Peter Gelb today to discuss rank and file “anxieties” about exposure to radiation and other safety concerns during the company’s planned tour to Japan scheduled for June. The bulk of Met personnel are scheduled to depart on the three-week tour on May 29, exactly two months from today, with members of the tech crew flying over as early as the the second week of May. 

Meanwhile, blogger OperaFille asserts the company “won’t cancel the entire trip unless the soloists bow out.” You will forgive La Cieca for opining that since one of the main attractions of the tour is Don Carlo featuring Barbara Frittoli, Olga Borodina, Jonas Kaufmann, Rene Pape and James Levine, it’s hardly going to take another tsunami to start the cancellations rolling in.