The Metropolitan Opera House opened its doors for the first time in 1966 and has been enthralling patrons consistently ever since. It is the home of the the city's best opera, which has been offerring operas since 1883. The Metropolitan Opera House is located in the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, on Broadway between 63rd and 64th Streets.
Chagall Murals
The first of the Met's interesting facts is that the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall created two murals that hang in the lobby of the Met.. One mural is called "The Triumph of Music" and the other "The Sources of Music". They can be seen from the Lincoln Center Plaza.
Strong Pedigree
The architecture of the Met was designed by Wallace Kirkman Harrison (1895-1981). Harrison was a Massachusetts born architect who worked on many public projects around New York City, including Rockafeller Center.
Extra Stages
As the new opera house, the Met replaced an older venue on 39th Street and Broadway. An interesting fact is that the dimensions of the key stage of the older house and the new house are about the same, but the new opera house has about hextuple the area, because the designers added extra stages on the sides and in the rear of the house.
Short Lived Opening Act
The initial performance at the new Met the opera Antony and Cleopatra by Samuel Barber. The opera premiered on September 16 in 1966. The opera starred Leontyne Price as Cleopatra and Justino Diaz as Mark Antony. Alas, the opera bombed, and the Met shortly dropped it from its performance list.
The Big Curtain
Trivial but fun, the Met has the very biggest front curtain of any performance venue in existence. The front curtain is the drape that hangs behind the proscenium arch, and is made out of golden damask.
Longest Performer
Charles Antony has logged the most performer hours at the Met. Antony is a tenor that made his debut on March 6, 1954 at the old Met. Surprisingly, the tenor is still performing at the new Met today, with over 2,000 performances.
Famous Debuts
29 operas have premiered at the Met. They include The Great Gatsby, The Voyage, The Ghosts of Versailles and others.
British Invasion
The Who was the first rock group to perform at the Met Around 1970. Who knew?
Odd but True True
Tenor Richard Versalle died while in the middle of a performance at the Met. Versalle died on January 5th in 1996 in a performance of "The Makropulos Case", after singing "You can only live so long". He was on a ladder, had a coronary, and plummeted to the stage in a truly dramatic performance.
Chagall Murals
The first of the Met's interesting facts is that the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall created two murals that hang in the lobby of the Met.. One mural is called "The Triumph of Music" and the other "The Sources of Music". They can be seen from the Lincoln Center Plaza.
Strong Pedigree
The architecture of the Met was designed by Wallace Kirkman Harrison (1895-1981). Harrison was a Massachusetts born architect who worked on many public projects around New York City, including Rockafeller Center.
Extra Stages
As the new opera house, the Met replaced an older venue on 39th Street and Broadway. An interesting fact is that the dimensions of the key stage of the older house and the new house are about the same, but the new opera house has about hextuple the area, because the designers added extra stages on the sides and in the rear of the house.
Short Lived Opening Act
The initial performance at the new Met the opera Antony and Cleopatra by Samuel Barber. The opera premiered on September 16 in 1966. The opera starred Leontyne Price as Cleopatra and Justino Diaz as Mark Antony. Alas, the opera bombed, and the Met shortly dropped it from its performance list.
The Big Curtain
Trivial but fun, the Met has the very biggest front curtain of any performance venue in existence. The front curtain is the drape that hangs behind the proscenium arch, and is made out of golden damask.
Longest Performer
Charles Antony has logged the most performer hours at the Met. Antony is a tenor that made his debut on March 6, 1954 at the old Met. Surprisingly, the tenor is still performing at the new Met today, with over 2,000 performances.
Famous Debuts
29 operas have premiered at the Met. They include The Great Gatsby, The Voyage, The Ghosts of Versailles and others.
British Invasion
The Who was the first rock group to perform at the Met Around 1970. Who knew?
Odd but True True
Tenor Richard Versalle died while in the middle of a performance at the Met. Versalle died on January 5th in 1996 in a performance of "The Makropulos Case", after singing "You can only live so long". He was on a ladder, had a coronary, and plummeted to the stage in a truly dramatic performance.
About the Author:
Jeff Myers has been fascinated by all of the great events held at the Metropolitan Opera House for a number of years. He has written many articles about several topics, please look for his writing here.
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