Submitted by opera fan, Apr 17, 2007 09:33

Someone has to tell the NEW Met that OPERA is about VOICE! VOICE and VOICE! THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Mr. Nordlinger!

No doubt Mr. Gelb's goal is to attract more "young, new audience" to the Met. But with what? More Anya and Rolando show? (Sr. Vargas is also from Mexico and has been singing much longer and much better than Villazon, why no special production for Sr. Vargas?!) More First Emperor? (an opera most people hated after they heard it) or more Sher productions? (sheer ugliness of the hyped Sher production of the new Barbiere. It's the fabulous singers who made the audience forget the dreadful production)!) or just turn the Met into another Broadway theatre? Last August, I went to stand on line to get my tickets when the Met box office opened the first day and overheard a young couple (in the their early 20s) raving about the new production of Don Pasquale they saw. They wondered why the Met did not bring it back again. They said it was a wonderful first opera for someone new to the art form. I could not agree more. The Otto Schenk production of Don Pasquale was Mr. Volpe's swan song. Hate to think that was old Met and may no longer be available in the NEW MET! As for myself, I have been to the Met since my late teens and I am not 40 yet, so I hope there are a lot of exciting things in store for me. I certainly am not looking forward to ugly, stack, empty or irreverent productions with second rate singers who may be able to fit into designer black dresses or black suits.

By the way, does the MET realize that it is the "OLDER" audience who has the money and TIME to go to the opera often! Every business will try its best to keep its customers happy and loyal, why the Met always tries so hard to tell the OLD audience that they are not what the MET wants to attract and keep?

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