A Lockout Looms

Today's New York Times reports that the administration of the Metropolitan Opera is poised for a lockout of its employees beginning August 1.  Gelb and company have decided to definitely take the lowest road in this ongoing labor battle.

Vänskä: needing to rebuild.

Events of the past couple of years have demonstrated that lockouts of musicians and other employees simply does not work.  It didn't work in Atlanta; it definitely didn't work in Minneapolis, where CEO Michael Henson is out the door and Music Director Osmo Vänskä is back in.  Of course, the long-term implications of these actions are still in play.  Exactly how long will it take to bring the orchestra (s) back to form.

The DSO at Carnegie Hall

While the post-strike Detroit Symphony received accolades for its Spring 2013 appearance at Carnegie Hall, the jury must still be out considering that the players have had to endure an average 22% cut in salary.  Nevertheless, in discussing the final weekend of that year's Spring for Music festival, reviewer James Oestreich opined,

As expected, the high point came on Friday evening with Detroit’s audacious presentation of an “Ives Immersion”: all four of Charles Ives’s numbered symphonies in chronological order. Obvious in retrospect (though not likely to be repeated often, given its strenuous demands on performers and listeners alike), the program made for an extraordinary journey, from the relatively conventional sensibility of a prodigious student composer in the First Symphony to the unfettered one of an indomitable master in the Fourth.

One has to wonder if this is the only choice for the Met.  Could management and unions agree on a temporary extension of current agreements while negotiations (if one can call them that) continue?  It would avoid (temporarily, at least) the disastrous contract talks of 1969 and 1980.  The former resulted in the need for years of recovery of the Met's subscriber base.  As the house is already suffering from lowered subscribers and single ticket sales, one has to wonder how much of a financial hit the Met can endure.

One thing is certain. Allan Gordon, the executive director of the American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents the chorus and others at the opera house, has determined that there is exactly zero chance of resolving current conflicts before the July 31 deadline. And THAT will probably leave Mr. Gelb in the same boat as Minnesota's Hensen, who continued to receive his salary, heading an organization which gave not a single performance.

“He has no intention of actually reaching an agreement by Aug. 1 unless it’s his agreement,” Mr. Gordon said of Mr. Gelb. He also said: “Once he locks out employees, his relationship with the performers at the Met is over. They will never respect him again. He’ll be the captain of a ship where the crew is just waiting for a chance to mutiny.”

As I have written before, the Met has a number of systemic problems that are not going to be solved overnight.  Its 3800-seat auditorium will probably not sell out night after night even in the best of economical times.  The organization is simply collapsing under its only weight.  And speaking of weight, I do believe that the fat lady is warming up.