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Met Opera cuts season by 3 1/2 months, to shorten some shows

FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2014, file photo, pedestrians make their way in front of the Metropolitan Opera house at New York's Lincoln Center. Met Opera will delay opening night of the season to Dec. 31, calling off four of five new productions, eliminating February break. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) (John Minchillo)

NEW YORK ā€“ The Metropolitan Opera season is getting shorter, along with some of its shows.

The Met said Monday it is pushing back opening night by nearly 3 1/2 months to the latest start in the companyā€™s 137-year history and calling off four of next seasonā€™s new productions in fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. It also announced about $60 million in emergency gifts had balanced its 2019-20 budget.

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ā€œSocial distancing and grand opera do not mix,ā€ Met general manager Peter Gelb said. ā€œIt is impossible to follow these social distancing guidelines that are in effect and presumably will be in effect certainly through the summer and into the early fall to have an orchestra situated in the pit, to have a chorus and dancers and singers in close contact with each other on the stage, to have costume, wardrobe, makeup people working intensely.ā€

The company plans to start its shortest season in four decades with a gala on New Yearā€™s Eve and is considering cuts that get the audience in and out faster.

ā€œThis is a good wake-up call for all of us to once again revisit running lengths,ā€ Gelb said. ā€œCertain operas seem to be just right in terms of their running time and others seem to be significantly too long."

Four new stagings will be reset for later seasons, most likely 2022-23 and later: Michael Mayerā€™s production of Verdiā€™s ā€œAida,ā€ Barrie Koskyā€™s version of Prokofievā€™s ā€œThe Fiery Angel,ā€ Simon McBurneyā€™s vision of Mozartā€™s ā€œDie Zauberflƶteā€ and Ivo Van Hoveā€™s rendering of Mozartā€™s ā€œDon Giovanni.ā€

ā€œAidaā€ was to have opened the season Sept. 21 starring Anna Netrebko.

ā€œI believe that we have a much greater chance of starting on Dec. 31,ā€ Gelb said. ā€œBased upon the discussions Iā€™ve had with various health authorities here locally in New York, some of them believe that there will be a medical solution by then. If there isnā€™t, we wonā€™t open. But if we didnā€™t open on Dec. 31, it would not be mean that we wouldnā€™t open at all next season.ā€

Netrebko also has withdrawn from a new staging of Straussā€™ ā€œSalomeā€ scheduled for 2021-22, deciding the role was not right for her.

ā€œThere will be changes to all future seasons,ā€ Gelb said. ā€œIf ever there was a time for grand opera to become more flexible in terms on scheduling and more nimble in terms of reaction, now is the time.ā€

Jake Heggieā€™s ā€œDead Man Walkingā€ is the only survivor among the new productions, opening April 8.

Julie Taymor's staging of ā€œMagic Fluteā€ from 2004 and the poorly received Michael Grandage production of ā€œDon Giovanniā€ from 2011 both will be brought back from storage containers in Newark, New Jersey.

The pandemic caused the Met to stop its season on March 12, forcing cancellation of the final 58 of 217 originally scheduled performances. The Met has now cut 146 performances in its 4,000-capacity house, leading to initial projections of huge losses in its $308 million budget.

Opening night had been latest in 1969 after a labor lockout delayed the start from Sept. 15 to Dec. 29.

There are 130 staged performances of 15 operas in the new schedule, down from the 218 performances of 23 operas that had been announced. This will be the fewest Met staged productions since a low of 14 in the lockout-delayed 1980-81 season, when there were 112 staged performances. This will be just the Metā€™s second season with one new production after 1945-46 with Pucciniā€™s ā€œIl Tabarro.ā€ There were no new productions in 1943-44, 1944-45 and 1948-49.

Many curtains will be moved up to 7 p.m., and Handelā€™s ā€œGiulio Cesareā€ will be cut from 4 1/2 hours to 3 1/2 hours with one fewer intermission. Straussā€™ ā€œDie Frau Ohne Schattenā€ also may be shortened.

The Met had announced its first February break and an extension of the season into June, but the pandemic caused the company to fill the month with Pucciniā€™s ā€œLa BohĆØme,ā€ Bizetā€™s ā€œCarmenā€ and Verdiā€™s ā€œLa Traviata.ā€

A revival of Bergā€™s ā€œLuluā€ scheduled for March 2021 was replaced by additional performances of Rossiniā€™s ā€œIl Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).ā€ Revivals dropped include Wagnerā€™s ā€œTristan und Isolde,ā€ Beethovenā€™s ā€œFidelio,ā€ Offenbachā€™s ā€œLes Contes dā€™Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann),ā€ Donizettiā€™s ā€œRoberto Devereuxā€ and Humperdinckā€™s ā€œHansel and Gretel.ā€ This will be just the Metā€™s second season without Wagner since anti-German sentiment in 1917-18 and ā€™18-ā€˜19 caused by World War I; the other was 2013-14.

Whatā€™s left of the season includes 16 performances of ā€œBohĆØmeā€ along with 13 each of ā€œFluteā€ and ā€œTraviata,ā€ and 10 apiece of ā€œDon Giovanniā€ and ā€œCarmen.ā€ Yannick NĆ©zet-SĆ©guinā€™s first full season as music director has been curtailed to 26 performance of four operas.


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