Met's "Ghost" has been exorcised

The AP has released a news item detailing new cost-cutting measures taken at the Met. One unfortunate consequence of the economic measures is that the Met will not revive John Corigliano's 1991 smash hit, "Ghosts of Versailles." Instead, the Met will cast Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson in a staid production of "La Traviata."

I was just starting back on my Masters when "Ghosts" was released. I remember watching the broadcast debut on PBS and being stunned, not only with Corigliano's command of the 20th century orchestral and operatic oeuvres but with the vastness of the production... not to mention wanting to be the first to sing "The Worm" for solo class at UT. (Never did, btw.) I also was working in the UT Music Library, where we had just received a video recording--it may have even been on laser disc--of "Ghosts," which I quickly purloined to rewatch in the back room of the library when I wasn't working or in class. "Ghosts" was the talk of the opera studio back then.

I can understand the Met's reticence to mount such a vast production, probably rivaling that of their recent "Flute" in opulence and grandeur. How many opera productions call for a giant mechanically operated robotic sultanate to serve as a major character? Then there's the period French dress, not to mention carloads of choristers and supers, and probably an equally huge number of IATSE crew. Of course, Corigliano throws a mighty 20th-century style orchestra in the pit. (Contrabassoonists and all ilk of bass clarinet players rejoice!)

But, still, it would have been great to see "Ghosts" mounted in a production equal to its original intentions. It definitely blurred the line between opera and musical theater, not that that hadn't been done a thousand times already. But unlike so many operas and operettas since the dawn of the 20th c., which were basically theater pieces aspiring to opera, Corigliano started from a position of grand opera and then added musical theater features to make it more accessible while keeping artistic the original artistic integrity.

I'm sure "Traviata" will be well-received and well-performed, though.

However, one must ponder: If the premiere opera companies of the world are having to make major cutbacks such as this one, what does that bode for the coming seasons of struggling regional companies like the KO?