Metropolitan Opera General Manager Pens Guest Essay in New York Times

Last week, the Met’s general manager Peter Gelb wrote an Opinion piece in the New York Times. Gelb’s essay focused on the importance of programming new works when working to ensure opera’s continued relevance.

What’s the buzz: On November 17th, Peter Gelb published a guest essay entitled “How to Save Opera in America? Make It New Again” in the New York Times. The Metropolitan Opera general manager highlighted the opera industry’s struggles due to the pandemic and a lack of government support and educational programs. Gelb explained how the Met’s production of new operas has helped to attract younger audiences, despite receiving mixed reviews in the press.

The rebuttal: Gelb’s “Sunday sermon,” as it was dubbed by music writer Norman Lebrecht, has drawn mixed reviews itself. Lebrecht criticized Gelb’s frequent use of the first-person pronoun, musing on whether or not Gelb saw opera as a teamwork-based affair. Meanwhile, the Washington Post’s former music critic Anne Midgette and the occasional Financial Post critic Olivia Giovetti saw Gelb’s guest essay as an expression of his difficulties accepting criticism.

In an age where not only classical music funding but also classical music criticism is increasingly rare, perhaps it is hard to know how a critic should be, as Giovetti pondered following Gelb’s article. We’re all for the free press over here.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.