# Opera in New York



## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Start spreading the news.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

What news? The one where Jonas Kaufmann has yet again for the 3rd year in a row canceled his March performances at the Met?
I smell fish cooking...


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

I'll kick it off on a high note with last night's Cav/Pag at the Metropolitan Opera. The Cav featured one vocal powerhouse after another: Violeta Urmana, Yonghoon Lee, and Ambrogio Maestri - and one of my favorite up-and-comers, Ginger Costa-Jackson as Lola. I'm still not a fan of the relentlessly dark setting (the intermezzo is staged as a candlelight vigil), but all I had to do was close my eyes to view the brilliant Easter morning portrayed by the orchestra under Fabio Luigo.

Maybe it was just Monday evening catching up with me, but aside from Roberto Algana's surprising standout performance, Pag didn't engage me as much despite its more colorful presentation and nonstop hijinx. Alagna made the role his own and brought the same heartbreaking desperation to Canio that he demonstrated in the past with his sympathetic Don Jose.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

What great casting, but that's the Met. Apparently Alagna is withdrawing from the remaining Pags to rehearse for Manon Lescaut as Kaufmann's replacement.

I notice that Alagna is becoming loved again in the last couple of years, and I'm glad to see it.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I loved opera before I lived in New York, but it was not an obsession until I was there, living a fifteen minute walk from Lincoln Center.

I only lived there three years, but I saw productions from many different companies around the city: Metropolitan Opera, Bronx Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, New York City Opera, Opera Manhattan, Lincoln Center Festival, Opera Slavica, Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Gotham Chamber Opera, and Utopia Opera.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

I'm seeing Madama B in March at the Met. I'll reserve judgement until then.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

There is a feeling of absolute awe and calm as I traverse up the steps to my home away from home. The Met is my magic place where happiness prevails. 
Until the advent of HD, I was seeing 18-20 productions live on average. Now I mainly go to the HD theater in my neighborhood and save the in-house specialties for the ones they do not show in HD.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> There is a feeling of absolute awe and calm as I traverse up the steps to my home away from home. The Met is my magic place where happiness prevails.
> Until the advent of HD, I was seeing 18-20 productions live on average. Now I mainly go to the HD theater in my neighborhood and save the in-house specialties for the ones they do not show in HD.


After years of listening to the "Texaco" Saturday Matinee, a visit is now No 1 on my bucket list. Had hoped to do it this year but alas no time.

Thanks for all the entries so far, but would love to know more about what else there is to enjoy.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I have to do with the Metropolitan at the Cinema :clap:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Cavaradossi said:


> I'll kick it off on a high note with last night's Cav/Pag at the Metropolitan Opera. The Cav featured one vocal powerhouse after another: Violeta Urmana, Yonghoon Lee, and Ambrogio Maestri - and one of my favorite up-and-comers, Ginger Costa-Jackson as Lola. I'm still not a fan of the relentlessly dark setting (the intermezzo is staged as a candlelight vigil), but all I had to do was close my eyes to view the brilliant Easter morning portrayed by the orchestra under Fabio Luigo.
> 
> Maybe it was just Monday evening catching up with me, but aside from Roberto Algana's surprising standout performance, Pag didn't engage me as much despite its more colorful presentation and nonstop hijinx. Alagna made the role his own and brought the same heartbreaking desperation to Canio that he demonstrated in the past with his sympathetic Don Jose.
> 
> View attachment 80748


I'm pleased the snow didn't prevent your attendance and what a great cast.

I like Alagna and he's earning big brownie points with the Met.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

I'm going to Lulu at the cinema on Saturday week, the Met broadcast version. 
And in April, I'm in New York for the first time in my life on a musical pilgrimage. Have already booked Simone Boccanegra, Otello and Electra at the Met. Will add more. Also Les Arts Florissants at Brooklyn Academy, a couple of New York Phil concerts, the visiting Bavarian orchestra, quartets in Carnegie hall.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Steatopygous said:


> I'm going to Lulu at the cinema on Saturday week, the Met broadcast version.
> And in April, I'm in New York for the first time in my life on a musical pilgrimage. Have already booked Simone Boccanegra, Otello and Electra at the Met. Will add more. Also Les Arts Florissants at Brooklyn Academy, a couple of New York Phil concerts, the visiting Bavarian orchestra, quartets in Carnegie hall.


Lucky you :tiphat:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Steatopygous said:


> I'm going to Lulu at the cinema on Saturday week, the Met broadcast version.
> And in April, I'm in New York for the first time in my life on a musical pilgrimage. Have already booked Simone Boccanegra, Otello and Electra at the Met. Will add more. Also Les Arts Florissants at Brooklyn Academy, a couple of New York Phil concerts, the visiting Bavarian orchestra, quartets in Carnegie hall.


Wonderful! Everything sounds good and Simon Boccanegra is my favourite opera.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Don Fatale said:


> What great casting, but that's the Met. Apparently Alagna is withdrawing from the remaining Pags to rehearse for Manon Lescaut as Kaufmann's replacement.
> 
> I notice that Alagna is becoming loved again in the last couple of years, and I'm glad to see it.


Yup, seems to be official. Kaufmann is also withdrawing from his recital at Carnegie Hall.

Indeed, a lot of love was for Alagna was in evidence on Monday. I admit I was skeptical coming to see his Canio, but he absolutely blew me away.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

mountmccabe said:


> I loved opera before I lived in New York, but it was not an obsession until I was there, living a fifteen minute walk from Lincoln Center.
> 
> I only lived there three years, but I saw productions from many different companies around the city: Metropolitan Opera, Bronx Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, New York City Opera, Opera Manhattan, Lincoln Center Festival, Opera Slavica, Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Gotham Chamber Opera, and Utopia Opera.


Heh, it is indeed a great place to develop an obsession. Cav/Pag on Monday, Turandot last night, and maybe, just maybe Pearl Fishers tonight. I'd say I'm getting to the same point. Some interesting companies above I have yet to explore. And a few updates for better or worse:

New York City Opera - Resurrected just this month, in name at least, with a six performance run of Tosca at, of all places, Jazz at Lincoln Center. I can't say I've followed the proceedings too closely, but it seems a legal battle between two entities over the right to use the NYCO name was only resolved at the eleventh hour. My impression is that, for now, this is a labor of love and it will be a long road to rebuild NYCO to its former prominence, but it's an encouraging development and I wish them the best. More here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/26/how-new-york-city-opera-came-back-from-death.html

Gotham Chamber Opera - After the demise of NYCO, they were held up as the prime example of a number of high quality smaller companies ready to fill the void left by NYCO for small to midsize companies producing high quality, cutting edge work. Having seen one of their productions in 2013, I looked forward to seeing more from them. But last fall, their current season was cancelled and operations ceased abruptly when it was announced that their new general director "uncovered a significant deficit that was not previously disclosed to the board". (Their previous director had just left for the recently imperiled San Diego Opera.)

On the bright side we still have the Center for Contemporary Opera and Prototype Festival, among others, producing new works.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Wonderful! Everything sounds good and Simon Boccanegra is my favourite opera.


Yes. I learned it through the fantastic Abbado production of the 1970s, and for a long time had a framed poster of that production on my wall that I bought at La Scala.


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## Lyricus (Dec 11, 2015)

Anyone going to see La bohème?


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Anyone else know LoftOpera?

http://www.loftopera.com/productions.html

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/classical-musics-highs-and-lows-2015/


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

I know of Loft Opera by reputation only, but they seem to be well respected.

I found this useful listing of smaller New York City opera companies. The site includes a calendar of upcoming events also:

http://nyoperaalliance.org/NYOA/about.aspx


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Thoughts on the Met Opera's new season:

Overall, I like it. Were I there, there are 10 operas I'd be thrilled about going to, a few more I want to look into (like _Cyrano de Bergerac_).

Tristan und Isolde (Rattle, with Stemme, Skelton), L'Amour de Loin (Mälkki, with Phillips, Mumford, Owens), Der fliegende Holländer (Nézet-Séguin with Volle, Wagner), Guillaume Tell (Luisi, with Finley, Rebeka, Hymel), Fidelio (Weigle, with Pieczonka, Florian Vogt, Müller, Grimsley, Struckmann) are the ones I'm most interested in. Next are the new productions of Rusalka (Elder, with Opolais and Jovanovich) and Der Rosenkavalier (Levine, with Fleming, Garanca, Groisböck), and revivals of Jenufa (with Dyka, Mattila) and I Puritani (Damrau, Camarena). I find _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ a little long and dull, but I'd want see it with Mattei, Yende, and Camarena.

Not as many of those as I'd like made it to the Live in HD seasons:

Tristan und Isolde (October 8), Don Giovanni (October 22), L'Amour de Loin (December 10), Nabucco (January 7), Roméo et Juliette (January 21), Rusalka (February 25), La Traviata (March 11), Idomeneo (March 25), Eugene Onegin (April 22), and Der Rosenkavalier (May 13).


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I will be seeing Sondra Radvanovsky in _Maria Stuarda _next Saturday matinee.
And then in April I will see Domingo in _Simone Boccanegera._


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I would love to see _Maria Stuarda_ again! Enjoy!

Just noticed that six of the 26 operas are in French. This is way more than in recent seasons.

Language breakdown:
Italian: 11
French: 6
German: 5
Czech: 2
Russian: 1
English: 1 [translated]


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

*The whole 2016-2017 season at the Met*

http://www.metopera.org/Season/2016...ail&utm_content=Buy Sub&utm_campaign=1617_SUB


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

I attended Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Carnegie Hall recital last night, a nice sampling of Russian art song by Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky, rounded out by a set of Strauss. He certainly seemed to be back in full form, and looked great - though slimmer than I remember, in a stylish fitted suit. For me the highlight was his second encore, a Russian song sung _a cappella _that seem to be familiar to some on the audience. I never found out what it was, but to me it sounded like a thousand years of Russian history were captured in Hvorostovsky's heartfelt rendition.

Spotted in attendance in the box seats supporting her Onegin: Renee Fleming.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Cavaradossi said:


> I attended Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Carnegie Hall recital last night, a nice sampling of Russian art song by Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky, rounded out by a set of Strauss. He certainly seemed to be back in full form, and looked great - though slimmer than I remember, in a stylish fitted suit. For me the highlight was his second encore, a Russian song sung _a cappella _that seem to be familiar to some on the audience. I never found out what it was, but to me it sounded like a thousand years of Russian history were captured in Hvorostovsky's heartfelt rendition.
> 
> View attachment 81598


How wonderful and I'm so pleased he seems to be back in good health. Shame you couldn't find out what the encore was.



Cavaradossi said:


> Spotted in attendance in the box seats supporting her Onegin: Renee Fleming.


Lovely!


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

mountmccabe said:


> Thoughts on the Met Opera's new season:
> 
> Overall, I like it. Were I there, there are 10 operas I'd be thrilled about going to, a few more I want to look into (like _Cyrano de Bergerac_).
> 
> ...


I'm really suprised Guillame Tell isn't being broadcast, seeing as it's a new production.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

sospiro said:


> How wonderful and I'm so pleased he seems to be back in good health. Shame you couldn't find out what the encore was.


Mystery solved, courtesy of this wonderful review in the New York Times, which also explains who those two very young and very enthusiastic Dimi fans seated in the box next to Renee Fleming were.



> But he returned alone, to sing an unaccompanied Russian folk song, "The Sweet Night." What it was about I can't say. But every phrase he sang was riveting, and the title fit the occasion.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

538 (of all places) talks about the Met's new season: _The Same Four Operas Are Performed Over And Over_.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-same-four-operas-are-performed-over-and-over/


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

If they have to do La Boheme a million times to pay for the other stuff, I'm OK with it.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

isorhythm said:


> If they have to do La Boheme a million times to pay for the other stuff, I'm OK with it.


Agreed. In fact I haven't seen a Boheme in years simply because at this stage of my life I am now more interested in who is singing than the opera itself which I know through and through.
Next season, offering 3 different casts, has dragged me out of my den to hear and see Perez and Fabiano doing Mimi and Rodolfo.
That one should be a winner.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

KenOC said:


> 538 (of all places) talks about the Met's new season: _The Same Four Operas Are Performed Over And Over_.
> 
> http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-same-four-operas-are-performed-over-and-over/


Since they also stage other operas in the same season it is not that bad. It would be worse if these were the only operas.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

nina foresti said:


> Agreed. In fact I haven't seen a Boheme in years simply because at this stage of my life I am now more interested in who is singing than the opera itself which I know through and through.
> Next season, offering 3 different casts, has dragged me out of my den to hear and see Perez and Fabiano doing Mimi and Rodolfo.
> That one should be a winner.


And the "second" and "third" Mimi's are Sonya Yoncheva and Kristine Opolais. Something like this season, where we had to choose between Christine Goerke and Nina Stemme for Turandot. (Or, like me, choose _not_ to choose, and just see both.)

I realize the Met has 3,800 seats to fill, six nights and one afternoon a week. But if they think they can lure us into seats with the biggest stars in the biggest productions of the most popular operas, I've got news for them: _It works!_


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

New York City Opera Unveils Rest of Season

I was a little concerned that they felt NYC needed another Tosca, but this sounds promising.

_New York City Opera, which emerged from bankruptcy last month under new management, said on Monday that it would stage *Daniel Catán's "Florencia en el Amazonas"* in June at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater as part of a new Spanish-language opera series.

The reorganized company, which began its first, abbreviated season last month with a consciously old-fashioned production of Puccini's "Tosca" as a nod to the first work City Opera performed in 1944, chose "Florencia" and two other contemporary pieces to round out the season.

It will present the East Coast premiere of *"Hopper's Wife" *- a 1997 chamber opera by Stewart Wallace that imagines a marriage between the painter Edward Hopper and the gossip columnist Hedda Hopper - at Harlem Stage from April 28 through May 1.

And on March 16 it will inaugurate a new concert series at the Appel Room in Jazz at Lincoln Center with the premiere of *David Hertzberg's "Sunday Morning,"* initially set to be performed by Gotham Chamber Opera, which closed last year.

"It looks like City Opera, if you think of everything as a whole," Michael Capasso, the company's general director, said in an interview. He noted that the company's season included a "traditional warhorse production, then a world premiere by a young composer, an edgy American chamber opera, and then a contemporary Romantic piece."_


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Sloe said:


> Since they also stage other operas in the same season it is not that bad. It would be worse if these were the only operas.


This is my thinking on the issue, too.

Much of what I've seen at and from the Met has been the new and rare works. My other main weakness is German rep, especially Wagner.

I've seen a Carmen live, and am planning on going to SF Opera's upcoming Carmen because it is the Bieito production. I've never seen Aida (though I'm considering seeing it at SF Opera in the fall), and I've never seen La boheme or any other Puccini live with a single exception: Suor Angelica by Opera Manhattan as part of a triple bill with The Medium and La voix humaine, each with piano accompaniment.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

KenOC said:


> 538 (of all places) talks about the Met's new season: _The Same Four Operas Are Performed Over And Over_.
> 
> http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-same-four-operas-are-performed-over-and-over/


I wonder what the figures are for ballet companies performing "The Nutcracker." Or the three Tchaikovsky ballets as a group.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

jegreenwood said:


> I wonder what the figures are for ballet companies performing "The Nutcracker." Or the three Tchaikovsky ballets as a group.


Nutcracker comes round as sure as Christmas...

N.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

jegreenwood said:


> I wonder what the figures are for ballet companies performing "The Nutcracker." Or the three Tchaikovsky ballets as a group.


Bachtrack's 2015 classical music stats - their yearly roundup of most performed pieces in various genres - discusses ballets and then has a top ten list:



> In the world of dance, Tchaikovsky rules, composer of five of the top ten ballets. The Nutcracker, unsurprisingly, was the most performed ballet, chosen by many companies as its Christmas show. We had more listings for Nutcracker than any other single ballet, opera or concert work!
> 
> Most performed ballets of 2015:
> 1. The Nutcracker
> ...


This unfortunately does not include actual numbers, which I would like to see as well.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Going to see this at JCC Manhattan tonight, also playing this Saturday. I don't know if I agree with the premise that operas set in ancient times are rare (name a baroque opera that _isn't_), but it should be interesting and I know a few folks in the cast.

_Operas set in ancient times are rare, but Russian-Israeli musician Dina Pruzhansky has created "Shulamit," whose story is based on the Song of Songs.

Taking place in ancient Jerusalem during the reign of King Solomon, Pruzhansky's piece began as a song cycle that was commissioned by the Bacchanalia String Quartet and premiered at Bargemusic in 2013. The first iteration starred Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani.

"After the premiere, everyone, including Bob Sherman from WQXR, was so taken by Maya singing these extraordinary biblical texts that they encouraged me to consider expanding the works beyond a song cycle," said Pruzhansky in an email interview with The Jewish Week._

Read more at http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/...-based-song-songs-returns#UBJiKGmUiLyc74T5.99


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

Coming this summer, as printed in yesterday's NYT:

*Mostly Mozart Festival Marks 50th Anniversary With Opera
*
Lincoln Center announced on Wednesday that its Mostly Mozart Festival would mark its 50th anniversary this summer with Mozart operas, the premiere of a David Lang choral work for 1,000 singers, and 50 new works performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble.

*"The Illuminated Heart," a selection of scenes from Mozart operas staged by the innovative British director Netia Jones, will open the festival on July 25 at David Geffen Hall, and will feature Christine Goerke, Ana María Martínez, Peter Mattei, Matthew Polenzani, Nadine Sierra and other notable singers. The festival's operatic theme will continue in August with a pair of Mozart operas performed by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall: "Così Fan Tutte," conducted by Louis Langrée, the festival's music director, and "Idomeneo," conducted by René Jacobs.*

The monumental new choral work by Mr. Lang, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, is called "the public domain." It will be performed on Aug. 13 outdoors at Lincoln Center, free, and will feature 1,000 singers conducted by Simon Halsey, the British choral director. The International Contemporary Ensemble will perform 50 new works - including some that will be performed as free 15-minute "micro-concerts" - by composers including David T. Little, Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Caroline Shaw.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Interested New Yorker article by Alex Ross about small opera companies in NYC; he discusses performances by Loft Opera and Heartbeat Opera.

I have not seen performances by either, but I love that there are a wide range of companies performing opera. And he may have meant it in good fun, but I see these companies as complimentary to rather than competition for the world-renowned majors.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Final act of Guillaume Tell cancelled at today's matinee. I saw this on Twitter from various people who were in the audience. It is not clear what happened.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Michael Cooper of the NYT tweets



> OFFICIAL: @MetOpera cancels remainder of "Guillaume Tell" after an audience member sprinkled an unidentified powder into the orchestra pit.


I hope everyone is safe.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

They cancelled this evening's planned performance of _L'Italiana in Algeri_ too. Story from the NYT.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Well, that's disturbing. I could see where this needs to be an abundance of caution situation. Let's hope that's all it is. 

I was just there last night for the opening night of Jenufa and was reminded all over again what a magnificent experience an evening at the Met can be.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

mountmccabe said:


> They cancelled this evening's planned performance of _L'Italiana in Algeri_ too. Story from the NYT.


Now it is reported "that the man who sprinkled the substance was from out of town, and indicated that he wanted to sprinkle the ashes of his mentor."


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