Funny how yesterday we said that the Met would cancel four operas from the 2009-2010 season, due to financial pressure.
Little more than 24 hours later, the Met has finally acknowledged that cuts will be made. Unfortunately, as of now they are only saying that John Corigliano's "Ghosts of Versailles" will be canceled:
Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson, who were to appear, instead will sing in a less-costly revival of Verdi's "La Traviata," Met general manager Peter Gelb said Thursday.
"In looking at ways to economize, that was an unfortunate sacrifice," Gelb said in an interview. "It's a much more expensive revival than most."
Gelb said all eight new productions will proceed as planned, but that some revivals may be replaced with less expensive ones.
Of course, this cancellation luckily relieves Angela Gheorghiu, whose repertoire is even smaller than her voice, from having to learn a new role (Violetta she has more or less committed to memory, at this point).
Then let's help out the shy peoples over at the Metropolitan Opera.
And let's say it for them, then.
The three other operas that are going to vanish from their roster for '09-'10, besides the one already confirmed by Mr. Keri-Lynn Wilson are:
*Lulu
*Lady Macbeth
*The Nose