All the Met’s a Stage at 125th Season’s Opening Night
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
On October 22, 1883, 125 years ago, the Metropolitan Opera, at 39th and Broadway, had its first opening night. The opera was “Faust,” seats were $1, and the program carried advertisements for Runkel’s chocolates and coal. As for quality, wrote New York Tribune critic Henry Krehbiel, “The performance of the opera was on the average plan of performances of the same work … not better as a whole nor worse as a whole.”
Since then, the world has been watching the Met, both the boxes and the stage. It is a theater of social and artistic ambition, and under general manager Peter Gelb, it seems to be at its most ambitious yet.
Ninety thousand people watched the 125th opening night concert on September 22, including Helen Mirren, Mayor Bloomberg, and Henry Kravis, and those who watched in HD television in theaters throughout North America. The operas were “La Traviata,” “Manon,” and “Capriccio,” and the star was soprano Renée Fleming, who wore European couture. The reviews were solid to stellar.
On this night, as on the first, the house was filled with families who have given generously to support the Met, such as board vice-chairman Mercedes Bass, who is in charge of the Met’s $170 million campaign for the 125th anniversary. “We’re six months ahead of schedule,” Mrs. Bass said, standing on the Grand Tier in a shimmering green Oscar de la Renta gown. That means she has done it, just shy of $9 million.
Meanwhile, another board member, Ann Ziff — whose first Met Opera experiences were at the first opera house, before the move to Lincoln Center — led the fund raising for this year’s opening night gala, resulting in a record $6 million.
In a time when artistry ranks supreme, though, the evening belonged to Ms. Fleming, who arrived at the post-performance supper (crabmeat salad, chicken, and parfait) wearing the gown designed for her by John Galliano for her scene in “Capriccio.”
“If there were a glass ceiling for sopranos, she just broke it,” Mr. Gelb said.
How will you remember this night? I asked Ms. Fleming. “How will I forget it,” she said, clutching her hands, covered in shiny black gloves.
agordon@nysun.com
