Renata Tebaldi
Why the Starriest of Opera Houses Needs to be More Starstruck
By MATTHEW GUREWITSCH [NY Times, 17 Apr 05]
REALITY changes; myths endure. For more than a century, the Metropolitan Opera has been synonymous with superstardom, so much so that no opera singer’s claim on immortality has been secure without seasons of glory at the Met.
Long before there was an MGM, the Met was living the classic studio line, “More stars than the heavens.” The Met booked stars, and symbiotically, stars made the Met. But while the company’s prestige remains intact, its star quotient has declined steeply, with dire consequences at the box office.
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