The Day of Reckoning Comes and Goes

The lights are still on...for another 72 hours anyway...

News from NYC is significantly better than yesterday, but it's still hard to believe that the situation at the Metropolitan Opera is going to end up with satisfaction for either side of the labor conflict.  Unions have put together proposals that allegedly can save the company over $30 million and yet, Peter Gelb refuses to respond and remains entrenched, refusing to release any semblance of the Met's true financial state.

Late last night the New York Times reported,

With management granting a 72-hour reprieve to try to reach agreements with the unions, though, it was still unclear if the lockout had been averted, or merely delayed. While opening night for the new season is not until Sept. 22, a lockout would stop rehearsals that are already underway.

The Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, had threatened to lock out the company’s employees if progress was not made toward new labor agreements before the contracts for 15 of its unions expired at midnight. But on Thursday morning the unions representing the orchestra and chorus agreed to his proposal to bring in a federal mediator, and after some late-night talks at the opera house, Mr. Gelb agreed to let talks continue.

“At the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s request, we’ve agreed to extend the deadline for 72 hours so we can have a chance to see if we can reach an agreement,” he said in an interview late Thursday night. “If they want to make a deal with us, and we hope to make a deal with them, the next 72 hours should give us ample time to do it.”

Gelb has had several months to reach an agreement with the unions but has apparently made no attempt to respond to union inquiries or counterproposals.  Why should another 72 hours make any difference?  Rumor has it that there is a "done-deal" in the wings waiting for the details to be ironed out.  This morning, Norman Lebrecht informs us,

We’re hearing that negotiators on both sides of the Metropolitan Opera dispute went to bed last night happy. A single source close to the Met management tells us ‘it’s a done deal’.

Peter Gelb himself described the 72-hour hiatus as a ‘one-time only extension’, designed to give Federal negotiator Allison Beck a chance to reach a deal. In fact, we’re told, the deal is done. The negotiator’s job is to save face for both sides.-

Regardless of the outcome, this is not going to end pretty for anyone at the Met. A lot of bad blood (to say the least) has developed between labor and management, akin to the 16-month debacle at the Minnesota Orchestra, which ended up with a more modest--but still significant--reduction in players' compensation. Of course, CEO Michael Hensen is out the door soon and Osmo Vanska is back on the podium.  One must wonder if similar events are brewing at Lincoln Center.

Gelb's experience prior to his appearance as "Artistic Director" of the Met focuses largely around his Presidency of Sony Classical.  According to his Wikipedia article (I know, I know, not always a font of accurate information), Gelb pursued a strategy of emphasizing crossover music over mainstream classical repertoire.  Examples include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was encouraged to record americana, including an album with fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor and double-bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, Appalachia Waltz; electronic composer Vangelis, who recorded the choral symphony Mythodea; and Charlotte Church, a pop artist who started her career as a classical singer.  I am left to wonder how this track record prepares one to head the most significant cultural institution in the United States?

The bottom line is that costs are skyrocketing and the paying public has exited the 3800-seat house in droves.  Something/someone has to give.  One can only hope it's not Wagner, Puccini, Verdi and so many others.

Last night on Broadway...anyone miss the old house?