Review: The Opera House, directed by Susan Froemke

Abstract

The Opera House , directed by Susan Froemke. New York: Metropolitan Opera, 2018. DVD. 111 mins. The documentary The Opera House was released in theaters in 2017 on the heels of the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the “New Met” at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Chronicling the creation of Lincoln Center, the movie begins with the genesis of the idea for a new opera house, which dates to the pre-Depression era (the original Metropolitan Opera House—the “Old Met”—opened in 1883), and it concludes with the dramatic opening night at the new theater on September 16, 1966, when the company offered the world premiere of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra . Following Wagner's Dream (2012), The Opera House is the second documentary about the Met to be directed by Susan Froemke and produced by Met general manager Peter Gelb, whose career has been defined by promoting and expanding the reach of classical music through media. PBS has been airing and streaming The Opera House since May 2018, and it is now available on DVD and can be streamed on Met Opera on Demand.1 Dealing with a rich and controversial era in the Met's history, The Opera House will be of great interest not only to opera lovers but also to musicologists, historians, and educators. The billing on the cover of the DVD reads, “Starring Leontyne Price.” Price, who in the first spoken words in the documentary refers to the Met as her “operatic home” (0:46), is in many ways the …