The top takeaway from the interview with Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb in this morning's New York Times is that the company is lowering its ticket prices. As writer Daniel Wakin notes, such a move is "a rarity" among major performing arts organizations, even if the average 10 percent drop simply brings prices back to where they were before this season's 10 percent increase. What caught our eye, however, was this comment by Gelb: He also blamed falling attendance on a “cannibalization” of the audience by the Met’s high-definition movie theater broadcasts. Attendance ... Read More
Could Simulcasts be Hurting the Metropolitan Opera After All?
February 27, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
Live from New York, It’s Mozart and Strauss
January 4, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
A smattering of applause rang out from the auditorium of the San Luis Obispo, California Performing Arts Center just past 10 o’clock one recent Saturday morning. The clapping grew louder for a few seconds and then trailed off, reflecting the hesitance of the 400 or so patrons on hand. It’s not that they felt ambivalent about maestro Maurizio Benini, who was making his way to the pit of the opera house to conduct The Elixir of Love. But he was in New York City, and their view inside Lincoln Center came from watching a live, high-definition simulcast on a huge screen. Is applause appropriate ... Read More
