"And We Go Into Extra Innings!"

Early morning agreement may save the Met season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Deliberations continue as the Metropolitan Opera tries to avoid a lockout.
Image from the film 12 Angry Men © 1957 MGM/United Artists.

It looks like there may not be a lockout at the Metropolitan Opera.

In a story announced on Twitter at 6:58am by New York Times reporter Michael Cooper, the Metropolitan Opera and the two unions representing the orchestra, singers, dancers and chorus have reached a tentative agreement.

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.

Three Days Grace

The Met and its unions announce a 72-hour lockout delay.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Met's current situation reminds one of this classic Sydney Pollack thriller.

Promotional image for Three Days of the Condor © 1975 Paramount Pictures.

In a tweet posted at 10:33pm on Thursday night, Wall Street Journal reporter Jennifer Maloney announced that the Metropolitan Opera will delay the lockout of its unions by 72 hours, giving the opera company and its unions three days in which to reach a compromise.

Mediate...Deliberate...Negotiate?

At the 11th hour, the Met and two of its unions agree to explore mediation.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Members of INXS (including the deceased Michael Hutchence, left) show up unexpectedly
at Lincoln Center, where the negotiations between the Metropolitan Opera (left) and its
unions have entered crunch time.
Images of Michael Hutchence, Garry Gary Beers and Jon Farris from the
INXS video "Mediate" © 1987 Atlantic Records.

The Metropolitan Opera and its fifteen unions stand poised on the brink of a lockout that threatens to cancel part or all of the 2014-15 season. However, a report in today's New York Times by Michael Cooper states that a federal mediator is being asked to step into negotiations between Met general manager Peter Gelb and two of the key unions whose collective bargaining agreements expire at midnight tonight.

50 Shades of Negotiations

The Met (and its unions) are heading for a showdown.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Image from someecards.com © 2014 someecards.com

In the middle of news stories about the current state of negotiations between the Metropolitan Opera and its fifteen unions (whose contracts all expire at midnight on Thursday). Apropos of nothing, last week also saw the release of the trailer for the movie version of E.L. James' kinky romance novel 50 Shades of Grey.

Minnesota Nice

The Minnesota Orchestra re-hires Osmo Vänskä.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Osmo Vänskä has returned to the Minnesota Orchestra.
Photo from MinnesotaOrchestraMusicians.org © 2014 The Minnesota Orchestra. 

Sometimes an acrimonious labor dispute can have a happy ending.

The Minnesota Orchesta has re-hired its music director Osmo Vänskä, six months after the conductor quit his post in protest.

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.

Lockout Threat Looms for Metropolitan Opera

Labor issues may disrupt 2014-15 season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This may be the scene at Lincoln Center next year if the Metropolitan Opera locks out its artists.
Photo elements from the motion picture Lock Up © 1989 Tri-Star Pictures and the Metropolitan Opera's
2013 production of Parsifal. Image of Jonas Kaufmann © 2013 by Ken Howard. Photo alteration by the author.

This is the time of year when opera lovers (and bloggers) look forward to the Metropolitan Opera's release of its upcoming schedule. With its Peter Gelb-mandated slate of six new productions and 20+ revivals building eager anticipation for the coming year, the schedule release is one of the more eagerly anticipated events of the winter season.

The Throwing of the Holiday Eggs

Superconductor lists The Worst of 2013.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This year's gala for The Human Fund has been cancelled due to flying eggs.
Photoshop by the author.

This is the first installment in the blog's year-end wrap-up designed to keep you all entertained and well-read as you're stuffing yourselves at your Yuletide parties. As we do every year at Festivus, it's time to air the grievances. Superconductor lists the crappiest things to happen in the year of 2013. From the unnecessary death of the New York City Opera to the orphan status of one of New York's most important orchestras, it's all here. There's probably more to add to this list, but that thought is just too depressing.

Keep Calm and Blog On

On Shutdowns, Closures, Crises and Coping: 
Some words from the Superconductor editorial desk.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Just do what the sign says. Photoshop by the author.

It's been a tumultuous week for the classical music business. The New York City Opera shut its doors after seventy years of operations. The opening night of Carnegie Hall (with the Philadelphia Orchestra and violinist Joshua Bell) was kyboshed by an 11th hour strike by the stagehands' Local One. Finally, the Minnesota Orchestra continuing its year-long self-asphyxiation by lockout. The latest blow: the resignation of Osmo Vänskä from the post of Music Director following the Orchestra's withdrawal from its planned November concerts at Carnegie Hall.

Minnesota Orchestra Lockout Goes "Fargo"

Music Director Ösmo Vänskä threatens to walk.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

"Whaddya mean we're not going to New York?" Steve Buscemi as Carl Showalter in Fargo.
Image © 1996 MGM.

The overwhelming silence that has settled over the Minnesota Orchestra, locked out since September, broke earlier this week, as music director Ösmo Vänskä threatened to resign.

Sour Peaches in Atlanta as Lockout Ends.

Both sides bitter as orchestra lockout ends.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A new collective bargaining agreement in Atlanta will shrink their symphony orchestra to 88 players.

The lockout is over in Atlanta.

That's the news from both sides of the labor dispute that threatened to axe the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 2012-2013 season.

Following the end of their contract, musicians were locked out of the Woodruff Center, the orchestra's home base on Sept. 4. Last night, the players agreed to all of management's demands and cuts in the interest of preserving the ensemble's season and reputation as one of America's better orchestras.

The Day the Lights Went Out in Georgia

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra locks out musicians. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

An empty, silent campus and armed off-duty cops as the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra locks out its players.

Photo of the Woodruff Arts Center from Wikimedia Commons.

Jail bars added by the author.

A breaking story on Norman Lebrecht's blog Slipped Disc states that a lockout is in effect for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which threatens that ensemble's 2012-2013 season.

 Last month, Superconductor reported an impending labor impasse between the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association (ASOPA) and the Executive Board of the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC). That impasse has now escalated into a lockout.

Lockout Looms at Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Musicians, management throw down over budget cuts.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Labor issues are heating up in Atlanta.
Image from Gone With the Wind © 1939 MGM.

The plague of cutbacks and labor unrest that has visited orchestras across North America has now made its way south. At the Woodruff Center for the Arts in Atlanta, GA, an ugly confrontation is brewing between the Board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the musicians of that ensemble.

In an August 9 letter to the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, members of the orchestra's Players' Association outline a proposed 26% cut in total musicians' expenses, a pay cut of $20,000 per musician, and a reduction in orchestra size from 95 members to 89.

The letter furthermore delineates the Board's threat to "lock out the orchestra and cancel our health and dental insurance" if the above conditions are not agreed to. It is added that the Board's decision comes in conjunction with the decision to start the 2012-2013 season in October, (which is apparently weeks later than usual), after the expiration of the players' current contract.