Seems like most news coming from the Met these days is dismal. Yesterday, the New York Post pointed the finger not at Swiss director Luc Bondy and his production team, who were given the sustained booing after the premier of Puccini’s Tosca, but directly at the Peter Gelb, general manager of the Manhattan based organization.

Before anything else, let it be known that this season, all nonunion workers of the Met took a 10% pay cut. So money isn’t exactly flying out the windows this year…

Since the less than stellar opening night of Tosca, $50,000 has been spent trying to bring the production up to the Met’s standard patrons have come to expect. However, sources for the newspaper claim that it has had no benefit thus far.

In addition, one of Gelb’s new acquisitions in Finnish bass-baritone Juga Uusitalo, may have been for naught. In order to sign him with the Met, Gelb had to purchase Uusitalo’s previous contract from a Finnish company, and then offer him a new one for Tosca. However, due to illness, his performances have all been cancelled. As they put it so well, “they’re now paying him not to sing in both Scandinavia and New York.”

Hopefully Der Rosenkavalier, which begins its revival tonight, featuring Renée Flemming and Susan Graham, will bring in some dazzling reviews. I’m optimistic about anything featuring Ms. Flemming these days.

“Pricey Pull Out Rattles Met” – New York Post

Posted on October 13th, 2009 at 7:24 pm | Filed under General |