Metropolitan Opera drops curtain on climate protest
NewsMembers of Extinction Rebellion broke into a performance of Wagner’s Tannhauser at the Metropolitan Opera last night.
They time their disruption for the middle of the second act, where Tannhäuser sings about a spring. Three people on balconies either side of the house simultaneously unfurled banners at 9.30pm reading ‘No Opera on a Dead Planet’ and shouting slogans.
Met officials ordered the curtain to be brought down. Security men removed two individuals and the performance resumed at 9.45.
One of the protesters was named on the Hyperallergic website as a New York musician,John Mark Rozendaal.
Climate change protesters interrupted a Met Opera premiere tonight pic.twitter.com/5bN0pRvlJU
— godfather (@Truthgodfather) December 1, 2023
With singing as bland and poor as that heard in this Tannhäuser, the disruption at least offers a level of “excitement” the principals just couldn’t muster.
sorry AL. I was there, I felt it was a really good performance. It was like the old days when you see a production that respects the libretto and every one was above average and some were really good. Schger was a real heldentenor and Gerhaher who was making his debut was wonderful.
Just really sick and tired of people behaving like a**holes. I don’t care if they do have a valid concern or a bone to pick: they need to stop this outrageous behavior such as this and doing things like gluing oneself to artworks etc.
I hope that the next time some a-hole glues themself to an artwork (or piano, or anything else) that the authorities simply let the a-hole remain attached to the object of his desire for a few days. No glue remover, no food, no water, no bucket. Enjoy yourself and your dirty undies till you beg forgiveness, a-hole.
Rachel Carson wrote a book…if I were serious about wanting to get the great Met audience’s attention focussed on climate catastrophe, I’d buy a whole lot of copies of ‘Silent Spring’ and make them available for free or a contribution, with an NRDC update, when the audience is leaving the performance.
How can these idiots not know that making a commotion during a Wagner opera is stupid and counter-productive? They have now convinced at least a couple hundred very financially able senior citizen-would-be-environmentalists from the audience, not to mention, orchestra members, stagehands, staff, singers, and administrators, to never contribute to any of the enviro-leaning non-profits that could have even a slight chance of influencing polluters and governments, to take remedial action. Exxon, Chevron, & BP will thank them.
I once went many years ago to see a dance
Group from Israel. And a few crazy people started to
Disrupt the show. But security threw them out
Quickly.
They have my respect. The world needs to understand that the planet is worth much more than a Wagner’s performance or a van Gogh. I reduced my international travels substantially because of their reminders.
Less chance of us bumping into you, then.
You’re part of a death cult.
These idiots deserve an Elon Musk answer. I have no respect for them and the Kerrys of this world who fly arund in private jets only to kowtow to the Chinese and Soros Jr. expecting us to do as they don’t. I would like to see them protesting in China, which builds coal plants by the dozen and yet gets our Paris fees. I am sure they would be dragged out and imprisoned.
Hearing great Wagnerian operas (especially fine performances like this one) is one of the very few things making this planet worth living on these days.
The planet is not in competition with music or art. To say that it is worth more is a non sequitur.
Well, maybe you should stop travelling at all if you really want to make a bigger difference. Don’t drive, use a bicycle. Don’t use electricity unless you signed up for a “green” provider. Don’t wear polyester, it’s made from petroleum. Grow you own food as they use gas to deliver the food in the supermarket. Better yet, study science and then find a job on how to make alternative forms of energy more affordable. There are no easy solutions. If you get the US to stop producing oil, but then ask Saudi Arabia to produce more for you to buy, how does it help? More importantly, how would disrupting a Met performance gets anybody closer to a solution?
Good for the protesters. The ultra-wealthy who comprise much of the Met’s audience need to hear this message and be made uncomfortable. Especially on the same day that we learn that 2023 was the hottest year on record.
There is no goodwill or understanding earned from these ridiculous displays. All it earns is people’s derision and annoyance. They also pick easy targets…you won’t see these jerks trying to interrupt a Nascar race because they know they would be brutalized. Also, the Met audience is not all ultra wealthy. Many supporters of the arts agree that climate change is a serious issue but attempting to destroy works of art and live performances is not protest it’s just being an self centered and egotistical public menace. I hate these people.
You are clearly MAGA and voting for Trump in 2024 Jay. Good!
That’s certainly what you and “highly offended” opera lovers suddenly sound like! Putting Biden down for his EXPENSIVE climate change obsession as well as leftists PARTICIPATING in peaceful protests like ANTIFA, George Floyd, BANKRUPT BLM, etc while choosing to not reign them in for much worse actions like physical violence, looting and burning down property is a civil war of Democrat’s creation. Liberals feed off of negativity and get off on disturbing the peace of anyone who won’t follow their narratives!! Leftist spaces clearly aren’t any longer the ‘sanctuaries’ your ilk thinks they are. More to come at this rate of far-left hate…
Then there’s Gelb (a white man) behaving like Donald Trump having peaceful protesters ARRESTED. Talk about White Fragility!!!!
I’m sure the ultra wealthy in standing room and other people who might have saved up for a month to buy a ticket need to be reminded of their privilege.
The performing arts are in a bad enough financial position already. Should they go bankrupt paying for extra security? Use your brain before you say stupid things.
The ultra-wealthy aren’t made uncomfortable by groups like Extinction Coefficient. Because every crusade eventually becomes a racket (e.g. Black Lives Matter), the Extinctioneers will be bought off. The ultra-wealthy will keep their yachts and jets and the zealots will be turned to impoverishing ordinary people.
Do you seriously think that the planet is now hotter than when dinosaurs were running around and there were giant ferns?
This is so ludicrously stupid it actually needs a response.
Do you have grandchildren? Mine will be retiring in the 90’s. If radical change in every aspect of our society does not happen, long before that, Tannhäuser at the Met (2070?) will be cancelled due to an outbreak of Ebola, while Carmen will be called off when a swarm of alligators were “running around” (as you put it:-) in Lincoln Center – they had taken over Central Park a few years earlier…
Ultra wealthy, right.
What is your evidence that people who attend the Met are less concerned about global warming than those who don’t?
I’m sure the auditorium full of “ultra-wealthy” audience members (i.e. potential donors) is eager to help now!
NOTHING makes the ultra-wealthy uncomfortable. They simply don’t give a flying fcuk about anything other than getting richer.
Trust me, the Met audience ain’t the “ultra wealthy” if there were any ultra wealthy supporters of the Met it wouldn’t have a deficit. There are a few but they rarely attend performances mostly it’s opera lovers many sitting in $30 or $100 seats. If you have real money you go to the Knicks where tickets cost much more. Perhaps those people need “the message” too? Except at Madison Square Garden the protesters would be beaten half to death. I’m surprised there wasn’t a fight at the Met! Would love to see them try this in an Italian opera house……………
And you believed it?
Bad for the protesters. Good for the audience – normalcy is restored quickly – disturbance out. Carry on as usual. The protesters make themselves a problem quite easy to solve – nothing else.
Would you care to be “made uncomfortable” by MAGA protestors at an event you cherished? Didn’t think so. Any shred of logic in your thinking?
Perhaps apropos of nothing, Mr. Rozendaal is a professional performer on the baroque cello and viola da gamba. Maybe he just doesn’t “get” Wagner…
On the other hand, those sitting in the Parterre boxes probably don’t “get” climate change.
As for the Met, they finally get some much-needed press.
What a fraud.
A hoax that benefits, and is funded by, Russia, China, and the Middle East, and is executed by liberal arts majors, who think the periodic table is used by Catholics for birth control.
The world is not ending due to carbon dioxide. The protestors need education on how faulty the climate models are and how off base all the dire predictions are
This is the (struggling musician?) who tried to ruin the evening for thousands of opera patrons, who are all on board with his climate activism anyway: https://twitter.com/jmrozendaal
Yes, it is. Why would musicians work with this person when he is trashing performances?
No concern for the performers who were affected by this and scared for their lives as an audience erupted in a screaming match that was indiscernible? More than an audience is affected by an act like this
Wagner operas aren’t good choices to protest because most of the audience is asleep and the rest have already died from boredom.
While Wagner does provide a good napping experience, there are cheaper and more convenient ways to have a pleasant snooze.
Good the barbarians were removed after 15 minutes. As for their claim – a music site wouldn’t be the best place to discuss it, but after the debacle with Covid vaccines, I don’t know whether I want to trust the climate theory either. Besides, without art, there wouldn’t be much worth preserving on the planet (don’t take this literally!).
Like the vast majority of the Met audience, I am not “ultra-wealthy” or even “semi-wealthy” by NYC standards. Which is why I sit in the Family Circle. I am very well-read and politically aware (as are many others attending) and don’t need one of the few pleasures available today disrupted to learn about the importance of climate change (or any other cause).
Why would a respected musician such as Rachel Barton Pine be a member of a chamber ensemble – Trio Settecento – with a person who seeks to destroy Met performances?
Concert halls have actually banned flowers for soloists, to save the world from climate change.
This is just the next logical step.
Let’s see them shut down a rap concert instead.
They wouldn’t dare.
Absolute foolishness. Why don’t they protest outside of Fox News?
Peter would be very impressed, I mean, Peter Konwitschny.
THIS will surely save the planet!
Bravo! To the MET for lowering the boom on those boors.
It’s a shame that many of these eco-clowns would rather destroy and interrupt peoples daily lives and ruin visual or performing arts rather than coming together and actually creating something thought-provoking or meaningful. Again, I agree that the environment needs to be taken care of, but ruining the work that many people have put time and effort into just to pull a narcissistic stunt is irresponsible and makes people not want to listen to the message being told.
Ironically, the protesters are actually mouthpieces of the super rich who themselves stand to gain unprecedented amounts of power and wealth through the “solutions” offered to “solve” warming. Read their website to see the plain communist systems they suggest as a replacement for every western government. (Side note: For some reason, they never attempt to protest in China.)
Peter Konwitschny would have been very impressed with what happened.
Interesting that these gangs keep targeting high cultural institutions: museums, opera houses, and concert halls whose supporters are probably aware of the climate problem. Why don’t they choose to bring their “message” to rap concerts, poetry slams, and drag shows ?
These idiots forget that art makes this planet especially precious. So, they protest about destroying the plane and yet they destroy its unique outcrop by doing so
John Mark Rozendaal, how would you like it if some anti-abortion protestors tried to shut down one of your performances? Also, how do your fellow musicians feel about working with you now?