91-691: The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center , situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan . Referred to colloquially as "the Met", the company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as the general manager. The company's music director has been Yannick Nézet-Séguin since 2018. The Met
182-497: A bitter falling out with Bing over repertoire,, Birgit Nilsson , Joan Sutherland , Régine Crespin , Mirella Freni , Renata Scotto , Montserrat Caballé , Elisabeth Schwarzkopf , Anna Moffo , James McCracken , Carlo Bergonzi , Franco Corelli , Alfredo Kraus , Plácido Domingo , Nicolai Gedda , Luciano Pavarotti , Jon Vickers , Tito Gobbi , Sherrill Milnes , and Cesare Siepi . The Met's 1961 production of Turandot , with Leopold Stokowski conducting, Birgit Nilsson in
273-405: A chorus, children's choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company also employs numerous free-lance dancers, actors, musicians and other performers throughout the season. The Met's roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Met's young artists programs. While many singers appear periodically as guests with
364-665: A dozen or more opera performances in Philadelphia throughout the season. Over the years the number of performances was gradually reduced until the final Philadelphia season in 1961 consisted of only four operas. The final performance of that last season was on March 21, 1961, with Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli in Turandot . After the Tuesday night visits were ended, the Met still returned to Philadelphia on its spring tours in 1967, 1968, 1978, and 1979. For its second season,
455-469: A fourth of the building's interior area; massive storage spaces below the stage allow for production storage within the opera house, and large workshops for scenery construction, costumes, wigs and electric equipment, as well as kitchens, offices, an employee canteen and dressing room spaces for the principals, chorus, supernumeraries, ballet and children's chorus surround the stage complex on multiple floors. Two large rehearsal halls (situated three floors below
546-490: A long relationship with the Met during this period. From 1900 to 1904, Lionel Mapleson (1865–1937) made a series of sound recordings at the Met. Mapleson, the nephew of the opera impresario James Henry Mapleson , was employed by the Met as a violinist and music librarian. He used an Edison cylinder phonograph set-up near the stage to capture short, one- to five-minute recordings of the soloists, chorus and orchestra during performances. These unique acoustic documents, known as
637-486: A more traditional design for its home, and the conflicting wishes of the architects of the other Lincoln Center venues), construction of Harrison's forty-third design of the Metropolitan Opera House began in the winter of 1963, the last of the three major Lincoln Center venues to be completed. Construction delays due to the finishing of the neighboring New York State Theatre (in time with the opening of
728-491: A rotating repertory schedule, with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday. Several operas are presented in new productions each season. Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera companies. The rest of the year's operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015–16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas. The operas in
819-897: A season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House . Henry Abbey served as manager for the inaugural season, 1883–84, which opened with a performance of Charles Gounod 's Faust starring the brilliant Swedish soprano Christina Nilsson . Abbey's company that first season featured an ensemble of artists led by sopranos Nilsson and Marcella Sembrich ; mezzo-soprano Sofia Scalchi ; tenors Italo Campanini and Roberto Stagno ; baritone Giuseppe Del Puente ; and bass Franco Novara . They gave 150 performances of 20 different operas by Gounod, Meyerbeer, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart, Thomas, Bizet, Flotow, and Ponchielli. All performances were sung in Italian and were conducted either by music director Auguste Vianesi or Cleofonte Campanini (the tenor Italo's brother). The company performed not only in
910-464: A six-week tour of American cities following its season in New York. These annual spring tours brought the company and its stars to cities throughout the U.S., most of which had no opera company of their own. In Cleveland, for example, Met stops were sporadic until 1924, when underwriting efforts spearheaded by Newton D. Baker led to 3 consecutive years of annual 8-engagement performances. This led to
1001-534: A year, as of the 2017–2018 season. In February 2018, Nézet-Séguin succeeded Levine as music director of the Metropolitan Opera. In August 2024, the company announced the extension of Nézet-Séguin's contract as its music director through the 2029–2030 season. In 2017, Daniele Rustioni first guest-conducted at the Metropolitan Opera. In November 2024, the company announced the appointment of Rustioni as its next principal guest conductor, effective with
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#17327725281571092-466: Is dependent on private financing. Gelb began his tenure by opening the 2006–07 season with a production of Madama Butterfly by the English director Anthony Minghella originally staged for English National Opera. Minghella's highly theatrical concept featured vividly colored banners on a spare stage, allowing the focus to be on the detailed acting of the singers. The abstract concept included casting
1183-652: Is one of the most technologically advanced stages in the world. Its vast array of hydraulic elevators, motorized stages and rigging systems have made possible the staging requirements of grand opera in repertory and have made possible complex productions such as Franco Zeffirelli's 1981 production of La bohème , as well as productions of mammoth operas, including Prokofiev 's War and Peace , Verdi's Aida and Wagner 's four-part, 16-hour Der Ring des Nibelungen . The Met stage has also been home to numerous world premieres of operas, including John Corigliano 's The Ghosts of Versailles , Philip Glass's The Voyage and
1274-470: The 1964 World's Fair ), resulted in the excavation site being nicknamed "Lake Bing" after then-Met General Manager Rudolf Bing . Although the house would not officially open for several more months, the first public performance at the new Metropolitan Opera House was a performance of Giacomo Puccini 's La fanciulla del West on April 11, 1966, with Beverly Bower as Minnie, Gaetano Bardini as Dick Johnson, and Cesare Bardelli as Jack Rance. The production
1365-602: The Edinburgh Festival . Serving from 1950 to 1972, Bing became one of the Met's most influential and reformist leaders. Bing modernized the administration of the company, ended an archaic ticket sales system, and brought an end to the company's Tuesday night performances in Philadelphia. He presided over an era of fine singing and glittering new productions, while guiding the company's move to a new home in Lincoln Center. While many outstanding singers debuted at
1456-558: The Mapleson Cylinders , preserve an audio picture of the early Met, and are the only known extant recordings of some performers, including the tenor Jean de Reszke and the dramatic soprano Milka Ternina. The recordings were later issued on a series of LPs and, in 2002, were included in the National Recording Registry . Beginning in 1898, the Metropolitan Opera company of singers and musicians undertook
1547-556: The Marshall Plan following World War II, and were designed by Dr. Hans Harald Rath of J. & L. Lobmeyr of Vienna. Twelve of the chandeliers in the auditorium are on motorized winches, and raised to the ceiling prior to performances so as not to obstruct sight lines of the audience on the upper levels. In 2008 the lobby chandeliers were dismantled and sent to the J & L Lobmeyr workshop in Vienna to be refurbished prior to
1638-486: The Morgan , Roosevelt , and Vanderbilt families, all of whom had been excluded from the academy. The new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22, 1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Music's opera season folded just three years after the Met opened. In its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/ impresarios to stage
1729-423: The former house were becoming vastly inadequate for growing repertory and advancing stagecraft. As part of the development of the present-day Rockefeller Center site , there was to be a development with a new 4,000-seat opera house at its center. Financial problems and the following stock market crash of 1929 postponed the relocation of the Metropolitan Opera, and the complex became more commercially based. With
1820-429: The 1933–34 season. Called the committee to Save Metropolitan Opera, the group was headed by the well-loved leading soprano, Lucrezia Bori . Bori not only led the committee, but also personally carried out much of its work and within a few months her fundraising efforts produced the $ 300,000 that were needed for the coming season. In April 1935, Gatti stepped down after 27 years as general manager. His immediate successor,
1911-465: The 2025-2026 season, with an initial contract of three seasons. Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) The Metropolitan Opera House (also known as The Met ) is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City . Part of Lincoln Center , the theater was designed by Wallace K. Harrison . It opened in 1966, replacing
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#17327725281572002-686: The Beach was staged independently at the Met in 1976. Concerts by Barbra Streisand , The Who , Paul McCartney and others have been successful as well. Several notable non-operatic performances occurred in 1986. On July 8, a gala fund raiser performance to benefit ABT and Paris Opera Ballet saw the first joint performance in over ten years of ABT artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov and Paris Opera Ballet Director Rudolf Nureyev . On August 9 and 10, comedian Robin Williams recorded performances that were shown on HBO and released on compact disc under
2093-581: The MOA to create the Metropolitan Opera National Company (MONC); a second touring company that would present operas nationally with young operatic talent. Supported by President John F. Kennedy and funded largely by donations given by philanthropist and publisher Lila Acheson Wallace , the company presented two seasons of operas in 1965–1966 and 1966–1967 in which hundreds of performances were given in hundreds of cities throughout
2184-484: The Met board's Eleanor Robson Belmont , the former actress and wife to industrialist August Belmont , was appointed head of a new organization—the Metropolitan Opera Guild—as successor to a women's club Belmont had set up. The Guild supported the producing company through subscriptions to its magazine, Opera News , and through Mrs. Belmont's weekly appeals on the Met's radio broadcasts. In 1940 ownership of
2275-737: The Met considerably expanded its repertory, offering four world premiers and 22 Met premiers, more new works than under any manager since Gatti-Casazza. Volpe chose Valery Gergiev , who was then the chief conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre , as Principal Guest Conductor in 1997 and broadened the Met's Russian repertory. Marcelo Álvarez , Gabriela Beňačková , Diana Damrau , Natalie Dessay , Renée Fleming , Juan Diego Flórez , Marcello Giordani , Angela Gheorghiu , Susan Graham , Ben Heppner , Dmitri Hvorostovsky , Salvatore Licitra , Anna Netrebko , René Pape , Neil Rosenshein , Bryn Terfel , and Deborah Voigt were among
2366-426: The Met found new controversy with a production of John Adams 's opera The Death of Klinghoffer , due to criticism that the work was antisemitic. In response to the controversy Gelb canceled the scheduled worldwide HD video presentation of a performance, but refused demands to cancel the live performances scheduled for October and November 2014. Demonstrators held signs and chanted "Shame on Gelb". On April 14, 2016,
2457-411: The Met from 1896 to 1903. The early 1900s saw the development of distinct Italian, German and later French "wings" within the Met's roster of artists including separate German and Italian choruses. This division of the company's forces faded after World War II when solo artists spent less time engaged at any one company. The administration of Heinrich Conried in 1903–08 was distinguished especially by
2548-476: The Met in 1891 in a glittering season of stars organized by the returning Henry E. Abbey, John B. Schoeffel and Maurice Grau as Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau . After missing a season to rebuild the opera house following a fire in August 1892 which destroyed most of the theater, Abbey and Grau continued as co-managers along with John Schoeffel as the business partner, initiating the so-called "Golden Age of Opera". Most of
2639-456: The Met in 1973 as Desdemona in Verdi 's Otello , the same role she debuted there in 1955. From 1975 to 1981 the Met was guided by a triumvirate of directors: the general manager (Anthony A. Bliss), artistic director ( James Levine ), and director of production (English stage director John Dexter ). Bliss was followed by Bruce Crawford and Hugh Southern . Through this period the constant figure
2730-454: The Met under Bing's guiding hand, music critics complained of a lack of great conducting during his regime, even though such eminent conductors as Fritz Stiedry , Dimitri Mitropoulos , Erich Leinsdorf , Fritz Reiner , and Karl Böhm appeared frequently in the 1950s and '60s. Among the most significant achievements of Bing's tenure was the opening of the Met's artistic roster to include singers of color. Marian Anderson 's historic 1955 debut
2821-422: The Met's 125th anniversary season. Workers re-wired the pieces and replaced any of the 49,000 crystals that were broken or missing. The lobby also contains sculptures by Aristide Maillol and Wilhelm Lehmbruck as well as portraits of notable performers and members of the Met company. 3,000 square feet of velour covers the walls in the front of house spaces, with gold leaf, bronze, Italian marble and concrete being
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2912-519: The Met's current stars as well as appearances by 26 veteran stars of the Met's the past. Among the artists, Leonard Bernstein and Birgit Nilsson gave their last performances with the company at the concert. This season also marked the debut of bass Samuel Ramey , who debuted as Argante in Handel's Rinaldo in January 1984. The immediate post-Bing era saw a continuing addition of African-Americans to
3003-496: The Met's directors turned to Leopold Damrosch as general manager. The revered conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra was engaged to lead the opera company in an all German language repertory and serve as its chief conductor. Under Damrosch, the company consisted of some the most celebrated singers from Europe's German-language opera houses. The new German Met found great popular and critical success in
3094-405: The Met's own SiriusXM radio channel. In 2010, the company named Fabio Luisi as its principal guest conductor in 2010, and subsequently its principal conductor in 2011, to fill a void created by Levine's two-year absence because of illness. In 2013, following the severance of the dancers' contracts, Gelb announced that the resident ballet company at the Met would cease to exist. In 2014, Gelb and
3185-694: The Met's own original productions. Theater directors Bartlett Sher , Mary Zimmerman , and Jack O'Brien joined the list of the Met's directors along with Stephen Wadsworth, Willy Decker, Laurent Pelly , Luc Bondy and other opera directors to create new stagings for the company. Robert Lepage , the Canadian director of Cirque du Soleil , was engaged by the Met to direct a revival of Der Ring des Nibelungen using hydraulic stage platforms and projected 3D imagery. To further engage new audiences Gelb initiated live high-definition video transmissions to cinemas worldwide, and regular live satellite radio broadcasts on
3276-506: The Met's principal conductor (but with no official title) from 1908 to 1915, leading the company in performances of Verdi, Wagner and others that set standards for the company for decades to come. The Viennese composer Gustav Mahler also was a Met conductor during Gatti-Casazza's first two seasons and in later years conductors Tullio Serafin and Artur Bodanzky led the company in the Italian and German repertories respectively. Following Toscanini's departure, Gatti-Casazza successfully guided
3367-537: The Met's regular visits ceased. On April 26, 1910, the Met purchased the Philadelphia Opera House from Oscar Hammerstein I . The company renamed the house the Metropolitan Opera House and performed all of their Philadelphia performances there until 1920, when the company sold the theater and resumed performing at the Academy of Music. During the Met's early years, the company annually presented
3458-461: The Met's repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th and 21st centuries. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs. The Met's performing company consists of a large symphony orchestra,
3549-524: The Met's wealthy supporters had significantly declined. Soon after his appointment, Cravath obtained new revenue through a contract with the National Broadcasting Company for weekly radio broadcasts of Met performances. The first national broadcast took place December 25, 1931, when Hansel and Gretel was aired. With Gatti's support, Cravath also obtained a ten percent reduction in the pay of all salaried employees beginning with
3640-479: The Metropolitan Opera House faces Columbus Avenue and Broadway and forms an axis with Philip Johnson 's David Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater) and David Geffen Hall (formerly Avery Fisher Hall), designed by Max Abramovitz , with the plaza's fountain at the center. Although west–east roads do not run through Lincoln Center itself, the Metropolitan Opera House is parallel to
3731-542: The Metropolitan Opera House including Danny Kaye's Look-In at the Metropolitan Opera ( CBS , 1975) and Sills and Burnett at the Met (CBS, 1976). In 1999 and 2001, the Opera House was the venue for the MTV Video Music Awards . As of May 2017 , its 50th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera House had hosted over 11,000 performances and 164 separate operas (67 of them added after the Met moved to
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3822-837: The Metropolitan Opera to a prolonged era of artistic innovation and musical excellence. He brought with him the fiery and brilliant conductor Arturo Toscanini , the music director from his seasons at La Scala. Many of the most noted singers of the era appeared at the Met under Gatti-Casazza's leadership, including sopranos Rosa Ponselle , Elisabeth Rethberg , Maria Jeritza , Emmy Destinn , Frances Alda , Frida Leider , Amelita Galli-Curci , Bernice de Pasquali , and Lily Pons ; tenors Jacques Urlus , Giovanni Martinelli , Beniamino Gigli , Giacomo Lauri-Volpi , and Lauritz Melchior ; baritones Titta Ruffo , Giuseppe De Luca , Pasquale Amato , and Lawrence Tibbett ; and basses Friedrich Schorr , Feodor Chaliapin , Jose Mardones, Tancredi Pasero and Ezio Pinza —among many others. Toscanini served as
3913-559: The Metropolitan Opera's founding subscribers determined to build a new opera house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of 22 men assembled at Delmonico's restaurant on April 28, 1880. They elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The new theater, built at 39th and Broadway , would include three tiers of private boxes in which the scions of New York's powerful new industrial families could display their wealth and establish their social prominence. The first subscribers included members of
4004-891: The Swedish opera manager Göran Gentele , died in an auto accident before the start of his first season. Following Gentele's tragic loss came Schuyler Chapin , who served as general manager for three seasons. The greatest achievement of his tenure was the Met's first tour to Japan for three weeks in May–June 1975 which was the brainchild of impresario Kazuko Hillyer . The tour played a significant role in popularizing opera in Japan, and boasted an impressive line-up of artists in productions of La traviata , Carmen , and La bohème ; including Marilyn Horne as Carmen, Joan Sutherland as Violetta, and tenors Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti alternating as Rodolfo. Soprano Renata Tebaldi retired from
4095-604: The US premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys in 2013. When the Metropolitan Opera is on hiatus, the Opera House is home to the annual Spring season of American Ballet Theatre (ABT). It regularly hosts touring opera and ballet companies including the Kirov , Bolshoi , and the La Scala companies. In addition, the Met has presented recitals by Vladimir Horowitz , Renée Fleming , Kathleen Battle , and others. Philip Glass 's Einstein on
4186-1134: The United States. Bing publicly supported the organization, but privately detested the idea and actively worked to dismantle the company which he ultimately achieved in a vote of the board in December 1966. The MONC's directors were mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens and Michael Manuel , a long time stage manager and director at the Met. Several well known opera singers performed with the MONC, including sopranos Clarice Carson , Maralin Niska , Mary Beth Peil , Francesca Roberto , and Marilyn Zschau ; mezzo-sopranos Joy Davidson , Sylvia Friederich, Dorothy Krebill, and Huguette Tourangeau ; tenors Enrico Di Giuseppe , Chris Lachona, Nicholas di Virgilio, and Harry Theyard ; baritones Ron Bottcher , John Fiorito , Thomas Jamerson , Julian Patrick , and Vern Shinall; bass-baritones Andrij Dobriansky , Ronald Hedlund, and Arnold Voketaitis ; and bass Paul Plishka . During Bing's tenure,
4277-537: The architectural surfaces in these spaces. A restaurant occupies space on the Grand Tier level, and spaces for patrons, guild members, and the Metropolitan Opera Club exist as well throughout the lobbies. A restaurant known as "Top of the Met", which occupied a balcony overlooking the plaza and lobbies below was a success upon opening, but closed after low attendance in the mid-1970s. The space
4368-532: The arrival of the Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso , the most celebrated singer who ever appeared at the old Metropolitan. He was also instrumental in hiring conductor Arturo Vigna . Conried was followed by Giulio Gatti-Casazza , who held a 27-year tenure from 1908 to 1935. Gatti-Casazza had been lured by the Met from a celebrated tenure as director of Milan's La Scala Opera House . His model planning, authoritative organizational skills and brilliant casts raised
4459-479: The artists first heard at the Met under his management. He retired as general manager in 2006. Joseph Volpe's post was given to Peter Gelb , formerly a record producer. Gelb began outlining his plans in April 2006; these included more new productions each year, ideas for shaving staging costs, and attracting new audiences without deterring existing opera-lovers. Gelb saw these issues as crucial for an organization which
4550-483: The block from West 63rd Street to West 64th Street. The rear of the House meets Amsterdam Avenue , and extends to the plaza entrance. The building is clad in white travertine and the east facade is graced with its distinctive series of five concrete arches and large glass and bronze facade, towering 96 feet above the plaza. On the north, south and west sides of the building, hundreds of vertical fins of travertine running
4641-415: The broadcasts and savings from both salary cuts and reorganization were not sufficient to cover the company's deficits. Representatives of the opera house, the producing company, and the artists formed a committee for fundraising among the public at large. Mainly though appeals made to radio audiences during the weekly broadcasts, the committee was able to obtain enough money to assure continuation of opera for
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#17327725281574732-448: The company announced the conclusion of James Levine's tenure as music director at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season. Gelb announced that Levine would also become Music Director Emeritus. On June 2, the Met board announced the appointment of Yannick Nézet-Séguin as the company's next music director, as of the 2020–2021 season, conducting five productions each season. He took the title of music director-designate, conducting two productions
4823-504: The company through the years of World War I into another decade of premieres, new productions and popular success in the 1920s. The 1930s, however, brought new financial and organizational challenges for the company. In 1931, Otto Kahn , the noted financier, resigned as head of the Met's board of directors and president of the Metropolitan Opera Company. He had been responsible for engaging Gatti-Casazza and had held
4914-552: The company, others maintain a close long-standing association with the Met, appearing many times each season until they retire. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1883 as an alternative to New York's old established Academy of Music opera house. The subscribers to the academy's limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society. By 1880, these " old money " families were loath to admit New York's newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded,
5005-433: The current building), with 251 productions having been created there. James Levine had conducted 2,583 of the Opera House's 11,000 performances; Charles Anthony had sung there 2,296 times; and The Three Tenors had performed there a combined 1,298 times. Additionally, the Met had broadcast 1,931 performances on live radio, 198 on television, and 109 for movie theaters. Situated at the western end of Lincoln Center Plaza,
5096-656: The development moving forward, John D. Rockefeller Jr. replaced the opera house development with the Rockefeller Center complex; this included a 70-story skyscraper, the RCA Building , which opened in 1933. Young Rockefeller Center architect Wallace Harrison would be approached some 20 years later by officers of the New York Philharmonic Society and the Met to develop a new home for both institutions. As chief architect again for
5187-399: The development of Lincoln Center , Harrison was chosen to design the new opera house, to be built as the centerpiece of the new performing arts complex- a twenty-five acre, eighteen block site on the Upper West Side , chosen by Robert Moses as a major urban renewal and slum clearance project. After a long process of redesigns, revisions and opposing interests (provided by the Met wanting
5278-484: The eyes." The auditorium is fan-shaped and decorated in gold and burgundy with seating for 3,794 and 245 standing positions on six levels. Over 4,000 squares of gold leaf cover the domed petal-shaped ceiling from which the 21 crystal chandeliers hang. The walls of the auditorium are paneled in kevazingo bubinga , a rosewood noted for its acoustic quality. The auditorium is known to be acoustically significant—small conversation and quiet moments in music can be heard well at
5369-560: The formation of the Northern Ohio Opera Association led by future U.S. Senator Robert J. Bulkley with the express purpose of underwriting long-term touring contracts with the Met. Cleveland was a particular lucrative stop for the Met, which had no competition in the form of a local opera company, and performances were held in the enormous Public Auditorium, which sat well over 9,000 people. The Met's national tours continued until 1986. Italian opera returned to
5460-484: The former Met bass Herbert Witherspoon , died of a heart attack barely six weeks into his term of office. This opened the way for the Canadian tenor and former Met artist Edward Johnson to be appointed general manager. Johnson served the company for the next 15 years, guiding the Met through the remaining years of the depression and the World War II era. The producing company's financial difficulties continued in
5551-471: The full height of the structure give the impression that the facade is an uninterrupted mass of travertine when viewed from certain angles. The building totals 14 stories, 5 of which are underground. On display in the lobby, and visible to the outside plaza, are two murals created for the space by Marc Chagall , The Sources of Music and The Triumph of Music . The murals are approximately 30 ft (9.1 m) by 36 ft (11 m). The south wall holds
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#17327725281575642-574: The greatest operatic artists in the world then graced the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in Italian as well as German and French repertory. Notable among them were the brothers Jean and Édouard de Reszke , Lilli Lehmann , Emma Calvé , Lillian Nordica , Nellie Melba , Marcella Sembrich , Milka Ternina , Emma Eames , Sofia Scalchi , Ernestine Schumann-Heink , Francesco Tamagno , Francesc Viñas , Jean Lassalle, Mario Ancona , Victor Maurel , Antonio Scotti and Pol Plançon . Henry Abbey died in 1896, and Maurice Grau continued as sole manager of
5733-443: The main level with the lower level lounges and upper floors. The centerpiece of the lobby is an array of eleven "crystal chandeliers resembling constellations with sparkly moons and satellites spraying out in all directions"; the auditorium contains 21 matching chandeliers, the largest of which measures 18 ft (5.5 m) in diameter. The chandeliers were donated by the government of Austria as repayment for American help during
5824-445: The main stage, each capable of holding a complete stage setting), the upstage one containing a 60 ft (18 m) diameter turntable; 103 motorized battens (linesets) for overhead lifting; and two 100 ft (30 m)-tall fully enveloping cycloramas . The large and highly mechanized stage and support space smoothly facilitates the rotating presentation of up to four different opera productions each week. The auditorium occupies
5915-490: The many home grown artists to become stars at the Met in the 1940s. Ettore Panizza , Sir Thomas Beecham , George Szell and Bruno Walter were among the leading conductors engaged during Johnson's tenure. Kurt Adler began his long tenure as chorus master and staff conductor in 1943. Succeeding Johnson in 1950 was the Austrian-born Rudolf Bing who had most recently created and served as director of
6006-490: The new Rockefeller Center . The plan was dropped in 1929 when it became apparent that it would produce no savings, and because the Met did not have enough money to move to a new opera house. It soon became apparent that the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and subsequent depression had resulted in a dangerously large deficit in the company's accounts. Between 1929 and 1931 ticket sales remained robust, but subsidies from
6097-549: The new Manhattan opera house, but also started a long tradition of touring throughout the country. In the winter and spring of 1884 the Met presented opera in theaters in Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia (see below), Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. Back in New York, the last night of the season featured a long gala performance to benefit Mr. Abbey. The special program consisted not only of various scenes from opera, but also offered Marcella Sembrich playing
6188-788: The officers of the Met joined forces with the officers of the New York Philharmonic to build the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts , where the new Metropolitan Opera House building opened in 1966. The Met's first season at Lincoln Center featured nine new productions, including the world premiere of Marvin David Levy 's Mourning Becomes Electra . However, the company would not premiere any new operas for decades afterwards, until 1991's The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano . One critic described
6279-400: The opera season of 1931/32. Cravath also engineered a reorganization of the management company by which it was transformed from a corporation, in which all participants were stockholders, to an association, whose members need not have a financial interest in operations. Apart from this change, the new Metropolitan Opera Association was virtually identical to the old Metropolitan Opera Company. It
6370-574: The original 1883 Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th Street. With a seating capacity of approximately 3,850, the house is the largest repertory opera house in the world. Home to the Metropolitan Opera Company, the facility also hosts the American Ballet Theatre in the summer months. Planning for a new home for the Metropolitan Opera began as early as the mid-1920s, when the backstage facilities of
6461-589: The performing company and the opera house was transferred to the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association from the company's original partnership of New York society families. Zinka Milanov , Jussi Björling , and Alexander Kipnis were first heard at the Met under Johnson's management. During World War II when many European artists were unavailable, the Met recruited American singers as never before. Eleanor Steber , Dorothy Kirsten , Helen Traubel (Flagstad's successor as Wagner's heroines), Jan Peerce , Richard Tucker , Leonard Warren and Robert Merrill were among
6552-415: The period as "a quarter-century in which the notion of commissioned work reminded Met administrators of the emblematic failure of Samuel Barber 's Antony and Cleopatra and the lukewarm reception of Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra ." Following Bing's retirement in 1972, the Met's management was overseen by a succession of executives and artists in shared authority. Bing's intended successor,
6643-422: The position of president since the beginning of Gatti-Casazza's term as manager. The new chair, prominent lawyer Paul Cravath , had served as the board's legal counsel. Retaining Gatti-Casazza as manager, Cravath focused his attention on managing the business affairs of the company. In 1926, as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center , a plan was floated to move the opera from the building on 39th Street to
6734-586: The roster of leading artists. Kathleen Battle , who in 1977 made her Met debut as the Shepherd in Wagner's Tannhäuser , became an important star in lyric soprano roles. Bass-baritone Simon Estes began a prominent Met career with his 1982 debut as Hermann, also in Tannhäuser . The model of General Manager as the leading authority in the company returned in 1990 when the company appointed Joseph Volpe . He
6825-419: The son of Cio-Cio San as a bunraku -style puppet, operated in plain sight by three puppeteers clothed in black. Gelb focused on expanding the Met's audience through a number of fronts. Increasing the number of new productions every season to keep the Met's stagings fresh and noteworthy, Gelb partnered with other opera companies to import productions and engaged directors from theater, circus, and film to produce
6916-679: The title Robin Williams Live at the Met . On October 19, Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic were scheduled during their North American tour for a matinee concert at the Opera House, but Karajan had fallen ill and was replaced by James Levine . The opera house has been featured in a number of movies and television programs, including the climax of Norman Jewison's 1987 film Moonstruck . In addition to regular Metropolitan Opera radio and television broadcasts, several other television programs have been produced at
7007-491: The title role, and Franco Corelli as Calàf, was called the Met's "biggest hit in 10 years". For the 1962/1963 season, Renata Tebaldi , popular with Met audiences, convinced a reluctant Bing to stage a revival of Adriana Lecouvreur , an opera last presented at the Met in 1907. In 1963, Anthony Bliss, a prominent New York lawyer and president of the Metropolitan Opera Association (MOA), convinced
7098-476: The top of the Family Circle some 146 feet (45 m) away from the stage. As a result, the Opera House is the only Lincoln Center auditorium that has not been rebuilt because of acoustic problems. The square gold proscenium is 54 ft (16 m) wide and 54 ft (16 m) high. The main curtain of custom-woven gold damask , a gift of the Metropolitan Opera Club , is the largest tab curtain in
7189-502: The violin and the piano, as well as the famed stage actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry in a scene from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . Abbey's inaugural season resulted in very large financial deficits. The Metropolitan Opera began a long history of performing in Philadelphia during its first season, presenting its entire repertoire in the city during January and April 1884. The company's first Philadelphia performance
7280-414: The work entitled The Triumph of Music while the north wall contains The Sources of Music . In 2009, the Met's board of directors decided to use the paintings as collateral for a long-term loan which previously relied on cash for backing. Some sources estimate the value of the paintings at $ 20 million. The multi-story lobby is dominated by a concrete and terrazzo cantilevered stairway that connects
7371-575: The works of Wagner and other German composers as well as in Italian and French operas sung in German. Damrosch died only months into his first season at the Met. Edmund Stanton replaced Damrosch the following year and served as general manager through the 1890–91 season. The Met's six German seasons were especially noted for performances by the celebrated conductor Anton Seidl whose Wagner interpretations were noted for their almost mystical intensity. The conductor Walter Damrosch , Leopold's son, also initiated
7462-626: The world. Above the proscenium is an untitled bronze sculpture by Mary Callery . The orchestra pit is very large and open to the auditorium, with the capacity for up to 110 musicians. The stage complex is one of the largest and most complex of its kind in the world, extending 80 ft (24 m) deep from the curtain line to the rear wall. The overall dimensions of the stage with wing space are 90 ft (27 m) deep and 103 ft (31 m) wide. The stage contains 7 hydraulic elevators that are 60 ft (18 m) wide, with double decks; three slipstages (large spaces on either side of and behind
7553-485: The years immediately following the desperate season of 1933–34. To meet budget shortfalls, fundraising continued and the number of performances was curtailed. Still, on given nights the brilliant Wagner pairing of the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad with the great heldentenor Lauritz Melchior proved irresistible to audiences even in such troubled times. To expand the Met's support among its national radio audience,
7644-539: Was James Levine. Engaged by Bing in 1971, Levine became principal conductor in 1973 and emerged as the Met's principal artistic leader through the last third of the 20th century. During the 1983–84 season the Met celebrated its 100th anniversary with an opening night revival of Berlioz's mammoth opera Les Troyens , with soprano Jessye Norman making her Met debut in the roles of both Cassandra and Dido. An eight-hour Centennial Gala concert in two parts followed on October 22, 1983, broadcast on PBS . The gala featured all of
7735-609: Was attended by 3,000 high school students, and began with the playing of the National Anthem and a series of sound tests that included a loud chord from the orchestra and a blast from a shotgun. The new building officially opened on September 16, 1966, with the world premiere of Samuel Barber 's Antony and Cleopatra , directed and designed by Franco Zeffirelli and choreographed by Alvin Ailey starring Leontyne Price as Cleopatra with Thomas Schippers conducting. The Met
7826-422: Was designed by Harrison himself and featured murals by French impressionist Raoul Dufy . Other public spaces in the Opera House were decorated by such interior designers of the time as Angelo Donghia , William Baldwin , and L. Garth Huxtable, husband of then- New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable , who upon the opening of the building would famously write, "There is a strong temptation to close
7917-444: Was followed by the introduction of a gifted generation of African American artists led by Leontyne Price (who inaugurated the new house at Lincoln Center), Reri Grist , Grace Bumbry , Shirley Verrett , Martina Arroyo , George Shirley , Robert McFerrin , and many others. Other celebrated singers who debuted at the Met during Bing's tenure include: Roberta Peters , Victoria de los Ángeles , Renata Tebaldi , Maria Callas , who had
8008-520: Was founded in 1883 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house and debuted the same year in a new building on 39th and Broadway (now known as the "Old Met"). It moved to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966. The Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. Until 2019, it presented about 27 different operas each year from late September through May. The operas are presented in
8099-560: Was hoped the association would be able to save money as it renegotiated contracts which the company had made. During this period there was no change in the organization of the Metropolitan Real Estate Opera Company which owned the opera house . It remained in the hands of the society families who owned its stock, yet the subsidies that the house and its owners had given the producing company fell off. In March 1932, Cravath found that income resulting from
8190-499: Was of Faust (with Christina Nilsson) on January 14, 1884, at the Chestnut Street Opera House . The Met continued to perform annually in Philadelphia for nearly eighty years, taking the entire company to the city on selected Tuesday nights throughout the opera season. Performances were usually held at Philadelphia's Academy of Music , with the company presenting close to 900 performances in the city by 1961 when
8281-421: Was the Met's third-longest serving manager, and was the first head of the Met to advance from within the ranks of the company after having started his career there as a carpenter in 1964. During his tenure the Met's international touring activities were expanded and Levine focused on expanding and building the Met's orchestra into a world-class symphonic ensemble with its own Carnegie Hall concert series. Under Volpe
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