EXCESS ALL ARIAS
From silencing booing audiences to splitting up fights over performers’ merits, Metropolitan Opera boss Peter Gelb tells MARION McMULLEN why passions always run high when it comes to his job
What was the first opera you saw?
WHEN I was 13, not long after The Met opened its new New York home here in Lincoln Center, my parents were invited to sit in the box of Rudolf Bing, who was then the general manager.
I got to see him in action as he vigorously confronted two patrons in the adjacent box who had the audacity to boo right in the middle of Grace Bumbry’s aria in Carmen. I had my first taste then that opera was a passionate art form and not for those with a weak constitution.
When did you start working at the venue?
WHEN I was a teenager, I landed a job as a part-time usher in the family circle standing room – the nosebleed section at the very top of the Met’s auditorium – where I had my first exposure to some of the Met’s more rabid fans, who would often fight with each other over their favourite singers.
My job was to break up the fights or to call in the reinforcements – the off-duty firemen who moonlighted as security officers.
What is your strongest memory of that time?
FROM my vantage point at the very top of the Met, 150 feet from the stage, I listened to the glorious voices of the greatest singers of 1970 – a golden era for operatic voices; the legendary Leontyne Price, perhaps the greatest Aida of all time; Renata Tebaldi, Italy’s number one diva and Maria Callas’ main rival; and Franco Corelli, the fore-runner to Pavarotti as the world’s greatest tenor, but whose severe episodes of stage fright tragically cut his career. All this had a magical effect on my teenage soul.
From the impressive gold proscenium that framed the stage to the sea of plush red velvet seats, the Met seemed to represent everything theatrical and glamorous about New York. It was as if all of the performing arts had been rolled into one gold-leafed operatic palace. This is when I fell in love with the Met.
Did you come from a musical background?
MY great uncle was the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz, although I certainly did not inherit his musical genius. When I was in junior high school, I played the sousaphone in the Harrison High School marching band.
How many performances do you see over a season?
I DON’T sit through every performance, but I am always in the house at least until the performance begins. During the course of the season, I see about 200 rehearsals and performances from beginning to end.
You and director Susan Froemke’s documentary The Opera House is about to be seen in UK cinemas. Did you discover anything suprising?
WE learned that the signature starburst chandeliers of the Met, an iconic architectural feature known the world over, were created through an accidental spilling of ink.
What is involved in your Met Live HD cinema broadcasts?
NEXT season, our transmissions will be seen in more than 2,000 theatres in 74 countries, and in every continent – except Antarctica.
Our season begins with the incomparable soprano Anna Netrebko singing the classic role of Aida for the very first time on the stage of the Met. That should be a singular event!
To serve our global audience, we utilize six different satellites that carry signals encoded with subtitles in eight different languages. More than 25 million people have seen the Met in movie theatres so far.
Who would have thought that millions of people would be enjoying grand opera and a hot dog for less money than it costs to attend a football game?
Do things ever go wrong?
THE occasional mishap backstage heightens the excitement for the viewers, like the time when soprano Deborah Voigt, hosting a transmission of Salome, couldn’t persuade soprano Karita Mattila to come out of her dressing room for an interview, as scheduled, and for what seemed like an eternity was left talking to a closed door.
With our transmissions, the backstage of the Met becomes a high definition fishbowl ... much to the enjoyment of our audiences.
Describe your perfect day at the opera house?
DURING the season, I often feel like a doctor who is always on call. In fact, after 12 seasons as general manager, dealing with the fragile state of tenors and sopranos, I’ve come to realize that there are only three stages of health for singers – they are always catching a cold, recovering from a cold, or suffering from a cold. So, my perfect day at the opera house, is when nobody cancels.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
THE best advice I’ve received was from my late mentor, the legendary promoter Sol Hurok, who said, “If the people don’t want to come, you can’t stop them”.
When I was a teenager, I landed a job as a part-time usher... where I had my first exposure to some of the Met’s more rabid fans, who would often fight with each other over their favourite singers..