Description of the attraction
The Metropolitan Opera is the largest center for classical music in North America, with which some of the world's greatest voices collaborate (Placido Domingo opened the seasons here 21 times). The symphony orchestra, the choir, the Met children's choir (as New Yorkers call it) are very famous.
The founding of the opera took place in a characteristic American style. It was created in 1880 by wealthy industrialists (among whom were the Morgan and Vanderbilts), offended by the fact that "good families", not wanting to recognize the nouveau riche, do not allow them to subscribe to boxes in the then main opera house of New York - the Academy of Music. Gathering at the Delmonico restaurant, 22 millionaires established their own theater. Among them were representatives of the "old money" (for example, the Roosevelts), who were then immediately expelled from the Academy. Just three years later, the Met became one of the main centers of attraction for the elite of New York, and the Academy of Music switched to staging vaudeville.
The victory was achieved in ways that work well in big business. The first thing the founders of the theater did was hire the best impresario. The brilliant American producer Henry Abbey invited the amazing Swedish soprano Christina Nilsson, who competed with Adelina Patti herself, to sing the part of Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust. The success was deafening. This scheme worked further: at the beginning of the 20th century, the great Enrico Caruso came to the Metropolitan Opera, making his debut here in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. Caruso sang his last part (Eleazar in The Judeica by Fromenthal Halevi) in 1920 at the Met. The great Arturo Toscanini, Gustav Mahler, Kurt Adler, Valery Gergiev conducted here.
Initially (since 1883) the Metropolitan Opera was located in a building on Broadway between Thirty-ninth and Fortieth streets. The project was developed by the architect Cleveland Cady; the theater burned down in 1892, but was rebuilt and was highly regarded by music lovers for its excellent acoustics and elegance. However, in 1966, the opera moved to the Lincoln Center building, designed by Wallace Harrison. The hall here seats 3,800 spectators and has 195 additional standing places on the first tier and on the balcony. The lobby is decorated with two giant frescoes by Marc Chagall. The acoustics are great too. The new theater opened with a world premiere of the opera Antony and Cleopatra by the American composer Samuel Barber. The production was directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
During the season, which lasts from late September to May, the theater puts on twenty-seven operas. Performances are held every day, except Sunday (plus a matinee on Saturday). The repertoire is very wide: from 18th century baroque operas to modern performances. The theater loves technical innovations: there is an electronic libretto system (monitors with scrolling text in front of each seat), performances are broadcast live FM (including all over the world - via satellite channels), online broadcasting from the Met is available for Internet users.
