ARIA SERIOUS?

Peter Gelb has commented to The New York Times over the the Met's move to put their two Chagall's up for collateral . "We don’t think it’s a major event," he told the paper. The article also discusses a move to reduce singer salaries by 10% across the board which is quite a move if you ask us here at the Aria Serious tower . You can read the full article here . - Edward

Even the stalwart Met is not immune to the economic climate and has announced it is giving up The Ghost of Versailles in an effort to cut costs. Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson , who were scheduled to sing, will now appear in a revival of La Traviata . "In looking at ways to economize, that was an unfortunate sacrifice," commented Met General Manager Peter Gelb . Aria Serious hears chatter of some other productions being replaced at the Met but until substantiated , we'll file these as rumors for now. In related economic climate news, San Francisco Opera is taking a close look at its Ring cycle . Readers will remember that this is a co-production with Washington National Opera, which has delayed its full Ring cycle and is now performing Götterdämmerung as two concert performances. "We're not going to make a decision for at least 60 days," said San Francisco Opera spokesman Jon Finck . "First we have to ascertain whether this is really just a po...

The Metropolitan Opera led all US Arts Organizations in funding from private sources with $128.1 million dollars in 2007 according to a survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy . Lincoln Center followed with a pittance of $123.9 million. On the west (and arguably better) coast San Francisco Opera came in at $70.7 million. All in all this list of philanthropic donations grew by an impressive 4.5% in 2007. That's a lot of drops in the bucket. Who knows what 2008 will bring. We here at San Diego Opera have a more modest annual budget of around $17 million. And with this, it now seems like as good a time as any to remind our fair readers that opera is the most expensive of the performing arts, since it is a combination of all other performing arts. Ticket sales only account for roughly half of our budget, leaving the rest of the funds to be generated by personal and corporate donations. Of course this is not an ideal business model -- to give your product away for half the cost it takes...

Alex Ross, uber music critic, blogger , writer for The New Yorker and genius mastermind has written a wonderful look at the Met's recent production of Dr. Atomic . My DVD of the Sellars production just arrived in the mail so I'll be sitting down to this in the next few days to watch (having missed the SF production). I had left my Adams binge behind, or so I thought... -- Edward

More details have emerged about the Dharma Initiative's... err... I mean the Metropolitan's Opera grab for global domination with the new Met Player service they plan to unleash next week. The New York Times has all the details that you can read here . I'm still not sold (and by now you're probably sick of me talking about how opera belongs live in the theatre and not on the movie or computer screen), although I'm curious to see what they can dig up from their audio archives. Now if there is a way to get this stuff off of my computer and into my headphones while I rest in the hammock on Sunday, then perhaps they'll even make a subscriber out of me. Regardless, this fusion of opera and technology is exciting stuff . - Edward

The stars were out on Sunday to honor Placido Domingo's 40th Anniversary singing with the Met . Woody Allen and Miss Piggy were among the honored guests as well as trio of cross dressing divas -- Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham and Patricia Racette who sang "Nessun Dorma" while dressed in tuxedos which they tore off to reveal gowns underneath. Placido made his first appearance with the Met in 1968 when he filled in for an ailing Franco Corelli in Adriana Lecouvreur. Happy 40th Anniversary Maestro! Now onto some Muppets... - Edward

The Metropolitan Opera continues its drive for world domination with the announcement of Met Player , an online subscription service that will feature their extensive audio and visual catalog as well as their recent HD productions which will be viewable on your very own computer (or TV). Innovative idea with some incredibly important and historic performances on file. I might have to fight my own aversion to watching opera in front of my computer or TV. What's next from the Met? Interactive cameras on the back of seats so audience members can direct their own movie broadcasts as personal keepsakes? Fantasy opera where users can select singers from the Met's own audio library and create a recording with the casts of their own choosing? Life extension research? Time travel? They're like the Dharma Initiative of opera. Exciting stuff. Take a look at the sample player here . Namaste. - Edward

Over the weekend word got out that pop singer Rufus Wainwright has decided to drop plans to compose an opera for the Met . This is sad news. Now, truth be told, I've never listened to much Rufus, preferring his sister's musical output to his own, but the idea of pop music stars writing for the opera stage excites me. First off, as someone who loves new music, it is always exciting when a new opera is being developed. I'm also interested in seeing how pop music sensibilities carry over into opera because I think many people forget that opera was indeed the popular music of its time. I also think having pop musicians compose an opera (provided it is good) helps earn my favorite art form some much needed "street cred" with younger audiences. When complete (the opera will premiere next year at the Manchester International Festival regardless of the Met), Rufus will join the ranks of other pop musicians who have composed operas including The Police's drummer Stewar...