There is not one opera house in the world that would walk away from a $100 million gift, least of all the Metropolitan Opera of New York which has just drawn down more than that sum from its endowment to pay for running expenses. So all the talk of Saudi human rights abuses is no more than hot air. No opera house in its right mind would have done otherwise.
Peter Gelb did what he had to do and with the full support of his board.
How do we know that? Because it emerged last night that they had renewed Gelb’s seven-digit contract to 2030, when he will be 77 years old. Gelb is nothing if not a survivor.
The post Face it, who on earth would turn down the Met’s Saudi lifeline? appeared first on Slippedisc.
.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "The Trial of Dhegdheer: a Somali folktale is the inspiration for a new community opera bringing together communities of Butetown & Grangetown in Cardiff")
