metropolitan opera

Malcolm X arrives — finally — at New York's Metropolitan Opera

10:37am November 03, 2023

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

An opera about civil rights leader Malcolm X opens Friday — nearly 40 years after X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X premiered. The creative team says its message feels more relevant than ever.

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Semyon Bychkov, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna, Austria in 2017.

As performing artists denounce or stay allied with Putin, history offers some lessons

6:07pm March 03, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

While Russian artists and institutions grapple with how they are viewed internationally, American cultural organizations make what amounts to foreign policy decisions.

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Soprano Anna Netrebko, performing in Vienna, Austria in 2019.

Anna Netrebko, a Russian star tied to Putin, is out at the Metropolitan Opera

4:05pm March 03, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The famed New York opera house said Thursday that the soprano will not appear there this season or next, after she declined to distance herself from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Star Russian soprano Anna Netrekbo singing in Metz, France in February 2020.

Metropolitan Opera says it will sever ties with Putin-allied artists

11:22pm February 27, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Star performers at the famed New York opera house, including soprano Anna Netrebko and conductor Valery Gergiev, have been closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City remains closed following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on Jan. 16, 2021.

Metropolitan Opera Backstage Workers: 'Without People, The Opera Is Nothing'

9:46pm February 19, 2021

by Jeff Lunden

A union representing 800 backstage workers began a publicity campaign today urging donors and government entities to withdraw support for the company because of a labor dispute.

The performing arts remain in economic peril as Broadway extends closures until May due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Broadway's Reopening Is Pushed Back Again

1:39pm October 09, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

The Broadway League has announced an extension of closures related to COVID-19 to May.

Former Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine, conducts the symphony on its opening night performance at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., in 2016. Levine, who was also the music director of New York's Metropolitan Opera, has been accused of sexu

Music & Culture

Met Suspends Famed Conductor Accused Of Molesting Teenager For Years In The '80s

8:58pm December 03, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

A man alleges that when he was 15, legendary conductor James Levine, then 41, began sexually abusing him. The Metropolitan Opera was reportedly aware of the allegations last year.

Tenor Placido Domingo performs the title role in a 1994 performance of Verdi's Otello at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Metropolitan Opera To Drop Use Of Blackface-Style Makeup In 'Otello'

6:08pm August 04, 2015

by Brakkton Booker

The Met says it is committed to "colorblind casting" and that its production of Otello this fall will be the first without dark makeup since the opera was first seen at the company in 1891.