So TIFF, as part of a broader Robert Lepage retrospective, today screened Susan Froemke’s Wagner’s Dream. It’s a documentary about the creation of the Lepage Ring at the Met and it’s very good. We were fortunate to get a brief introduction and Q&A session with M. Lepage himself before the screening.
Apparently Peter Gelb made a statement yesterday that the “Live in HD” broadcasts were “cannibalising” the in-house audience at the Met. I’d love to see the data on which that statement was based. I’d also love to see what data the Met has on how other companies are being impacted. My guess is that, if the statement about the Met audience is true, it will show other companies suffering too. So much for attracting a new audience for live opera.
I’m not sure I’d want to go down in opera history as the guy who killed the live audience with a second rate ersatz product…
ETA: Do not Google “cannibal cartoons”. It’s a bit like watching Puccini.
operaramblings 