Breaking: The Met shuts down for the month

Breaking: The Met shuts down for the month

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norman lebrecht

March 12, 2020

Message just in:

We regret to inform our audience that all Met performances have been canceled through March 31, effective immediately.

The safety and security of our audiences and employees is the Met’s highest priority, and in canceling performances, we are following the lead of our city, state, and federal elected officials as well as the recommendations of the Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

If you have tickets for any of these performances, the value of the tickets will automatically be credited to your Met Opera account.

This Saturday’s Live in HD cinema presentation of Der Fliegende Holländer has also been cancelled.

UPDATE: Why NY shut down so fast

Comments

  • William says:

    And yet the Philharmonic remains open…?!

    • norman lebrecht says:

      No. shut a few minutes ago

      • Kyle says:

        And with a very poorly worded message on their front page: “For information about refunds or exchanges, ticketholders should contact Customer Relations at […]”

        That message is sure to upset their ticketing manager! There’s more information if one chooses to follow a link, but how about saying what will happen automatically if the patrons do nothing. And saying, oh, by the way, you absolutely don’t need to call right now. We can’t possibly talk to all of you immediately.

      • William says:

        Just saw after I made my comment. Thanks.

  • Larry L. Lash / Vienna says:

    I wonder how much America shutting its doors to EU passport holders contributed to this decision, and how long that will disrupt the schedule.

    • Tiredofitall says:

      Not much for classical venues. Foreign ticket purchasers account for less than you’d imagine. New York ain’t Wien…

    • Vaquero357 says:

      Well, the ban on travel from Europe extends longer than March 31, so *theoretically* there could be a period when the MET is open but can’t get European cast members.

      That’d be a huge opportunity for American singers!

    • Peter San Diego says:

      I also wonder how the UK’s handling of the virus differs from the EU’s sufficiently to warrant exemption. It can’t possibly be political… 😉

      • Larry D says:

        Trump wants to be sure Prince Andrew can show up anytime he gets the itch.

      • Brettermeier says:

        Well, Ireland, even as an EU member, somehow (*cough*Trump’sgolfresort*cough*) also got special treatment…

        It would be funny if it wasn’t so obvious, embarrassing, and gormless.

  • CapeCod says:

    The Met will be broadcasting a recently recorded (Tuesday) ‘Dutchman’ during its regular Saturday radio program.

    • Vaquero357 says:

      I figured they would. They’ve got 70+ years of recorded broadcasts to choose from, including the earlier webcast of this new Dutchman production. And they’ve been slipping a few recorded performances into each broadcast season for some years now…..

  • Marshall says:

    all gatherings in NY State over 500 are banned-and that will probably drop
    So it has nothing to do with individual organizations making a decision

    • John Porter says:

      That is correct. The City told them in advance so they could announce ahead of time and appear to be taking a leadership position.

  • Kathleen King says:

    A pity, but necessary I suppose. One hopes that the chorus and stage folk do not lose revenue whether the Met or all the other theaters and venues.

  • Harold Sacks says:

    The Kimmel Center and Verizon Hall also goes dark with the Philadelphia Orchestra.Yannik was to conduct 2 weeks of Beethoven there as well as Werthur at the Met. He might as well take a breather in Montreal. if they will let him back in the US.

  • Mustafa Kandan says:

    Anyone who believes that these shut downs will last a month or two are totally over optimistic. It will take months in most cases. If we are going in this path, we may as well close all schools and universities to be consistent. All commercial flights should also be cancelled.

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