At the Brink in NYC

We wish all the constituencies—musicians, patrons, donors, board, the city of New York—well as they seek to honor the Metropolitan Opera’s stated mission to provide “a vibrant home for the most creative and talented artists working in the multidisciplinary field of opera, including singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world.” The Met, established in 1880 by 22 civic activists meeting at Delmonico’s Restaurant, is after all the biggest and arguably the most prestigious institution of classical music in the Western hemisphere. It needs to work.

Yesterday’s letter from Peter Gelb, the embattled general manager of the Met, to the unions instructed members to prepare for a work stoppage on 1 August—in a week’s time. Among other things it invited employees to extend their healthcare benefits through Cobra, at a per-family cost of $2,800 per month. Their last paychecks will arrive on July 31 or August 7.

Of course the rhetoric is intense. You can’t help but think about Minneapolis and whether or not those lessons have yet been learned. And in some respects crises like these are, by now, an old, old story.

See also:

• Michael Cooper in the New York Times, July 23: “Met Opera Prepares to Lock Out Workers”
• Jennifer Maloney in the Wall Street Journal, July 23: “Metropolitan Opera Leader Warns of Walkout”
• Alex Ross in the New Yorker, June 24: “The Met’s ‘Klinghoffer’ Problem” 

                                                                                              —DKH