{"id":39668,"date":"2016-10-29T23:12:15","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T03:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=39668"},"modified":"2016-11-01T12:50:24","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T16:50:24","slug":"exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/10\/29\/exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE | MET Opera Cancels Show After Someone Scatters Ashes Of Deceased Into Orchestra Pit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo:
Potential terror attack at the MET Opera which leads to closure turns out to be a man sprinkling the ashes of his mentor during the performance. (Photo: Joseph So)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My annual trip was very memorable – sadly, for the wrong reasons\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

NEW YORK CITY\u2014 It\u2019s 9 pm on a lovely but cool Saturday evening here in New York.\u00a0 But instead of being at the Metropolitan Opera, enjoying a performance of Rossini\u2019s L\u201dItaliana in Algeri<\/em>, I\u2019m back at the hotel filing this report. Currently on my annual Autumn trip to the Big Apple, visiting family and catching a few operatic gems the likes of Tristan und Isolde, Jenufa, Guillaume Tell<\/em> and L\u2019Italiana in Algeri<\/em>.\u00a0 Well, Tristan <\/em>and Jenufa <\/em>were indeed wonderful, as was most of Tell<\/em>. But I will never find out how the great American tenor Bryan Hymel as Arnold would have sounded this afternoon in his Act 4 Aria, \u201cAsile hereditaire.\u201d\u00a0 Nor will I know how Canada\u2019s lovely mezzo Rihab Chaieb would have been like in her Met debut role, as Zulma in L\u2019Italiana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You see, the unthinkable happened \u2013 the cancellation of an act this afternoon, followed by a whole opera this evening, unprecedented in the history of the Met. I\u2019ve been coming here for 49 years, and I can recall very, very few instances when a performance did not go on, if you don\u2019t count the various strikes and the weather emergencies! In 1987, an audience member fell to his death at the intermission of a Macbeth<\/em> and the rest of the performance was cancelled. British soprano Elizabeth Connell never got to sing her Sleepwalking Scene. Nine years later, tenor Richard Versalle fell from a ladder in the first few minutes of the opening performance of Vec Makropoulos<\/em> starring Jessye Norman. He died on the way to the hospital, and the show was cancelled. The cancellation of Act 4 of Guillaume Tell <\/em>followed by L\u2019Italiana <\/em>may well be only the third time in the new Met.\u00a0 There was one other cancellation I am aware of – Leonard Warren died of a heart attack right in the middle of La forza del destino<\/em> starring the great Renata Tebaldi. That was probably around 1960, at the old Met.<\/p>\n

I was in the audience of the Guillaume Tell<\/em> this afternoon. The second intermission was very long, and I just assumed that it was to give the singers a bit more rest. After all, the Second Act (combining acts 2 and 3) was interminable for a non-Rossinian like me, something like over two hours.\u00a0 I was even joking with the nice lady sitting next to me how Act Two felt like all of Gotterdammerung<\/em>. Normally the pit would have a few musicians tuning up prior to the start of the next act. This time it was completely empty. I didn\u2019t think much of it. Then the stage manager came in front of the curtain with a microphone. My first thought was \u2013 \u201cOh no!\u00a0 Someone is sick\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He told the audience there was some technical problem and the performance would start soon. Then there was another long wait of a good 15, 20 minutes. By then, some audience members started to leave.\u00a0 Matinee audiences are often out-of-towners and they need to catch the train or whatever. \u00a0Those who were impatient started to clap rhythmically, while more headed for the exit.<\/p>\n

The stage manager came out again a few minutes later, to announce that due to some technical or mechanical issue, the performance was cancelled. That brought an uproar, a few boos, and one man screamed repeatedly at the top of his lungs \u2014 \u201cI WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!\u201d\u00a0 He had to be shushed by the more sensible people in the audience. We were told that we could exchange our tickets for a future performance of the same opera. I left the opera house without knowing the real reason. In this age of the Internet, it didn\u2019t take long to find out! \u00a0Canadian baritone Matthew Zadow, a Facebook friend, posted a link from Norman Lebrecht\u2019s Slipped Disc<\/em>, with details of the abrupt cancellation. It seemed that someone from the audience sprinkled a white powder into the orchestral pit. The substance was being tested, and as a precaution, the rest of the show was cancelled. As I was leaving the theatre, there was a heavy police presence, with nearly a dozen police cars parked across the Plaza. I had another show in the evening, L\u2019Italiana<\/em>, and I had a distinct feeling that it wasn\u2019t going to end well. Sure enough, by six o\u2019clock, a Facebook message from mezzo Rihab Chaieb confirmed that the evening show had also been cancelled.<\/p>\n

\"People
People crowd around Plaza in front of the MET opera house before the canceled performance of L’Italiana in Algeri<\/em> (Photo: Joseph So)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sadly, this is a sign of the times.\u00a0 Of all the opera houses I regularly attend \u2013 Munich, London, Berlin, Dresden, Santa Fe etc., the Met appears to be the only one that uses a portable metal detector to scan you as you go in. Knapsacks are regularly searched. I don\u2019t think you\u2019re even allowed to bring it into the auditorium in places like the Semperoper Dresden.\u00a0 It\u2019s chilling, and a sad reality that malicious acts such as the one this afternoon is almost impossible to prevent. For the sake of everyone, let\u2019s hope that instead of a deadly substance like Anthrax, it\u2019s harmless, nothing more than the action of some idiotic prankster who thought it was funny.\u00a0 In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that this is Halloween weekend. Let\u2019s hope that\u2019s all that is. As more details come out, I will update this report.<\/p>\n

Met Incident Update<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As reported in the media in a news conference Saturday, the NYPD said multiple witnesses told them that the man who sprinkled the substance was from out of town. He indicated that he wanted to sprinkle the ashes of his mentor during the performance. Investigators say the man didn’t say anything as he spread the substance. He was seen on surveillance video, casually walking away.<\/p>\n

“I don’t believe he thought he was doing anything wrong or that he had a reason to flee,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller.<\/p>\n

Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb said that none of the musicians were hit by the ashes, and that the Opera will be open for business on Monday. He also added that the organization hopes people will continue to come to the opera, but will ‘leave their ashes at home’.<\/p>\n

As I was leaving the opera house, there was obviously a large police presence. When I returned 90 minutes later for the L\u2019Italiana in Algeri<\/em> performance, there were even more police cars parked just outside the Plaza.\u00a0 So, the mystery is solved. \u00a0I am sorry to have lost the chance to hear Bryan Hymel sing his great aria, and to see the scintillating production of L’Italiana<\/em>, but I completely agree that safety must have top priority. But people, please remember that while Opera is an exciting art form, it\u2019s exciting enough on its own, and your help is not needed! Let\u2019s not get carried away!<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and review\u00a0before anyone else finds out? F<\/em>ollow us on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or Twitter<\/a><\/span> for all the latest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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