![]() ![]() That’s true, although he always answered my questions candidly and I admired his dry wit when he criticized some of his own stars. Rudolph Bing, the general manager from 1950 to 1972, is portrayed here as an autocrat with an icy demeanor. I happened to be at the 1971 Tosca at Lincoln Center where James Levine made his Met conducting debut and Robinson asked me to stay afterwards and “meet our new young conductor.” There is no mention of Levine throughout The Opera House. That elegant gentleman held court nearly every night in a small press room where he poured drinks and introduced whichever visitors were attending that night to each other, whether they be Martha Graham or Gian Carlo Menotti or a young broadcast journalist. The Met’s assistant general manager and public relations director, Francis Robinson welcomed me when I was merely the manager of a college radio station. I remember, also, the hole-in-the-wall executive offices overlooking Broadway. The film stresses the lack of space at 39th Street and shows the tiny lobby and cramped backstage. ![]() It was fun to see principal Met artists asking each other to autograph their programs. I remember attending a midnight supper afterwards, where I sat with Giovanni Martinelli, Zinka Milanov and other superstars of the past. I attended many performances in the old house at 39th and Broadway, and I was there for the four-hour closing night on April 16, 1966, which is glimpsed during this film. Nostalgia pervades the two-hour film and awakes memories of my own. It’s framed by the on-camera reminiscences of people who worked at the previous Met, of Irish-American and Puerto Rican residents of the neighborhood that was torn down to make room for Lincoln Center, and of soprano Leontyne Price, who starred in the opening night of the new Met. This must-see film presents a vivid picture of the New York City that used to be, and a history of urban renewal, sociology, politics and architecture. Ostensibly, The Opera House seemed to be a tribute to the Met’s home in Lincoln Center, which opened a little over 50 years ago. The film was streamed to cinemas worldwide by Fathom Events as part of its continuing series of HD transmissions from the Metropolitan Opera. ![]() Susan Froemke attempts a multitude of tasks in her latest documentary, The Opera House, and succeeds beyond my expectations. ![]()
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