Metropolitan Opera Alters Rush Ticket Policy

Or...why Superconductor will probably not be covering the Met anymore.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

New changes in the Metropolitan Opera 2014-15 Rush Ticket Policy make reviewing
performances in the coming season all but impossible.

The Metropolitan Opera announced today that its Rush Tickets program is being drastically altered for the 2014-15 season. The revised ticket program designed (according to the press release) to allow "expanded, more democratic access to Met tickets for $25" means that Superconductor will most likely not

be covering or reviewing most Metropolitan Opera performances in the 2014-15 season.

Doomsday Postponed (Again)

Met extends lockout deadline by  one week. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The demon Surtur (right) prepares for Ragnarok in the pages of The Mighty Thor.
Pencils and art by Walter Simonson © 1983 Marvel Comics.

Here at Superconductor world headquarters (which rests mostly in the gelatinous mass of neurons between the ears of a portly 41-year-old Brooklynite with a penchant for James Bond movies, comic books and obscure Parsifal jokes) this otherwise pleasant August weekend (game night with close friends on Saturday, fantasy football draft and bar night on Sunday) was continually interrupted with thoughts of the Metropolitan Opera labor negotiations and what the result would be once an independent auditor completed his examination of the opera company's financial documents.

Just One Week 'til Doomsday

The Metropolitan Opera and its unions are headed for the precipice.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The title (with a slight background picture alteration) speaks for itself.

Photo of Peter Gelb's head by Marty Sohl © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera.

Original cover of While The Clock Ticked by Franklin W. Dixon

Artwork © 1932 Grosset and Dunlap. Photo alteration by the author.

With one week left before the July 31 deadline and union contracts for fifteen of the Metropolitan Opera's sixteen unions threatening to expire, both Met general manager Peter Gelb and union representatives have upped the stakes in their war of angry words.

The Show Must Go On

The Met labor negotiations and the state of the 2014-15 Metropolitan Opera Preview.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Metropolitan Opera manager Peter Gelb is trying to keep all his balls (and a banana) in the air.
Original image of Peter Gelb © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera. Cartoon image from 
Queen's album Innuendo, based on an image from the French artist J.J. Grandville. 
Logos of AGMA, Local 1 and Local 802 are © the respective unions. 

If you've read Superconductor for a while you know that one of the "trademark" article series on this blog is the extensive and detailed Metropolitan Opera Preview, where we break down all the productions in the coming season and hopefully entertain readers in the process..

The Met vs. the Fourth Estate

Opera company seeks to bar reporters from contract talks.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The empty stairs of the Metropolitan Opera lobby make an eloquent statement.
Photo by Jonathan Tichler © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.
Sign added by the author.

The impending negotiations between the Metropolitan Opera and the heads of its various unions is scheduled to start May 5, five days before the close of the company’s current season. However, if Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb has his way, the local New York press (including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal will not be allowed to attend the sensitive talks.

Labor Rattles Sabres as Met Plans Cuts

Trouble ahead as the Met gets ready to negotiate new union contracts.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A chilling vision of things to come.
Auditorium photograph © The Metropolitan Opera.
Bender © Matt Groening/30th Century Fox. Juxtaposition by the author.

As the Metropolitan Opera sends out its subscription renewal packages and schedule for the 2014-15 season, opera goers in New York may have to face the reality that this coming may be completely or partially cancelled. The cause, a possible lockout of major unions by Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb.

A Look Ahead: Carnegie Hall in 2014-15

The Grass is Always Greener...Upstairs
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Anne Sophie Mutter (left) and Joyce DiDonato are
the  Carnegie Hall Perspectives artists for 2014-15.

The annual schedule of concerts and performances put forth by the Carnegie Hall Corporation is always ambitious. Next season sees the culmination of an ambitious renovaton to the famed music venue, with the opening of new education rooms, party space and a grassy roof deck.

Onstage, promises to be a feast of multiculturalism, with UBUNTU! a lengthy festival devoted to the music and culture of South Africa, not one but two artists offering Perspectives series, and the appointment of Meredith Monk as next year's Composer In Residence.

With the enormous slate of programs on offer, Superconductor looks over the slate of concert and opera performances that you shouldn't miss next year at Carnegie Hall.

A Look Ahead: 2014-15 at The Metropolitan Opera

Superconductor gives a first look at next season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Marcelo Àlvarez and...Marcelo Àlvarez bring the tragedy as the Met unveils a new
Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (and five more new productions) for next season.
Photo by Anne Deniau © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2014-15 season was announced today at 6pm. Recent seasons have been conservative (2012-13 with its abundance of Verdi and Wagner) or experimental (2013-14 with the return of Russian and Czech opera and a new work by Nico Muhly). 2014-15 looks to fall between two stools, presenting modern works by John Adams, Igor Stravinsky and Dmitri Shostakovich against a slew of Verdi operas and traditional repertory favorites.