The Metropolitan Opera administration certainly has a lot to answer for, but nevertheless it was sad to attend Thais last night and see how many empty seats there were for this fine performance. Gelb may have done a lot wrong, but he’s also fighting an uphill battle.
This morning I went to look for reviews from the production’s opening earlier this month and, unbelievably, there don’t seem to have been any proper reviews in either the NY Times or the WSJ.
The Times had a piece by Zachary Woolfe coupling Thais with Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All. There were two paragraphs dedicated to the actual performance.
Certainly much of what little opera coverage there is in the “mainstream” media could be better than what it has been, but on the other hand, excluding a full review of an opera that has not been heard at the Met in 9 years, that stars an international name such as Gerald Finley, is just plain DUMB. As well as highly injurious to NYC culture.
Does anyone in the “mainstream” media really care about culture any more?
In any case, Thais is not a great opera but gives lots of opportunities to its performers, and they certainly availed themselves of all they could last night.