Visit the Metropolitan Opera of New York

The Metropolitan Opera of New York is New York’s premier opera organization. As such, it is housed in the Lincoln Center cultural complex. The hall can accommodate up to 3800 people. The building contains a multitude of mechanical systems that allow the stage to be transformed in no time and thus offer different and demanding performances every night.

The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City was founded in 1880. It remained for almost a century in its first building along Broadway, between 39th and 45th Streets. This beautiful building was designed by architect J. Cleaveland Cady. It opened on October 23, 1883, with a performance of Faust produced by director Henry Abbey. The building suffered a fire in 1892, but was quickly renovated and was used again until 1966 when the opera administration decided to move to one of the buildings in the Lincoln Center complex. This new building was designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison. As for the old building, it was razed the following year, as it did not obtain the status of a historical monument.

The Metropolitan Opera of New York inaugurated its new premises on September 16, 1966, with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra. The Metropolitan Opera of New York is a regular premiere venue. It has had more than thirty world premieres, including Puccini’s Il trittico, and more than 100 national premieres.

In an effort to bring opera to as many people as possible, the Metropolitan Opera was the first to broadcast recurring radio programs. Since 1931, every Saturday, people can listen live to the opera being performed that day. The Metropolitan Opera also conducts live broadcasts to select movie theaters around the world.

The legends of the New York Metropolitan Opera

Between 1903 and 1908, the Met’s audience discovered the voice of a future opera legend, Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), who performed great arias under the direction of conductor Heinrich Conried. The Metropolitan Opera of New York was able to count on the greatest conductors, we mention: Anton Seidi (1884-1897), Gustav Mahler (1908-1915), Arturo Toscanini (1908-1915), George Szell (1942-1946), Fritz Reiner (1949-1953), Erich Leinsdorf (1956-1962), James Levine (1973-2011)…

The current façade of the Metropolitan Opera is covered with travertine, a white limestone. It offers 5 large arches that rise in front of a large bay window. In the lobby, two large frescoes by the artist Marc Chagall are suspended. In the hall, one can admire a proscenium or proscenium 16 meters wide and high. The curtain of the stage is made of woven silk and a damask. It is the largest in the world in this type of use. One of the advantages of the Metropolitan Opera’s stage is that it has incredible and powerful machinery. It includes seven elevators and three different stages that slide between them. The main stage is made up of an impressive 20-meter rotating platform.