Hospitality Design - October 2011 - 72

perspectives
not very advanced. And the attempt to create great acoustical halls, to match the great acoustics of the halls of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when building materials were different, resulted in some of the worst acoustically efﬁcient concert halls and opera houses. The Met, miraculously, somehow escaped this problem. DR: Any thoughts at the about performer transformation

interview: peter gelb
Left: The Act 3 finale of Wagner’s Die Walküre, directed and designed by Robert Lepage. (Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)
the center of the experience. And being right there allows artists to feel like they can collaborate in perhaps a different way, and that they’re supported. What are the parts of the transformation of the Met that haven’t happened yet that you look forward to, if those exist? PG: I think there are some parts of the transformation that will never happen. It will never be possible to replace a large part of the older musical repertoire with new pieces. DR: Because of volume or because of love for the old productions? PG: Because of love and because of the talent. I think that the great, timeless pieces have not been surpassed. DR: Didn’t you refer to opera as the pop music of its day? PG: It wasn’t exactly the pop music of its day. But it was much more popular, that’s for sure. And it certainly had the support of the entire intellectual creative community in any one country. DR: Although, who knows? I would imagine, as we look 20, 30 years out, some of the things you’re doing here will create momentum for new works. PG: We’re pushing for new works all the time. DR: And is the dining experience ever going to mirror what’s happening with the opera? PG: Well, most interesting restaurants vary their repertoire all the time, don’t they? DR: Do you feel like the transformation of Lincoln Center has given new energy to the Met? PG: I’m actually a believer that the energy at Lincoln Center comes from within the buildings, not the exterior. What gives a theater or a cultural center like Lincoln Center, or a city like New York, its sense of dynamism is the individual efforts that go on within the conﬁnes of each institution. It’s like every great restaurant in New York. DR: Nothing makes a restaurant design look better than a great chef. PG: Right. DR: Well, here’s looking forward to my opportunity to work on this incredible stage. PG: I look forward to that. For the complete interview, log on to www.hospitalitydesign.com

level? I think it’s fascinating to think about knowing the singers, and then seeing them take on the role in the physical environment, where the from transformation’s their point of view. PG: It’s really hard to underestimate how difﬁcult it is for a singer on the stage of a huge opera house like the Met, where they have to have a voice that’s big enough to command the space. And the biggest challenge from a theatrical point of view is to give a dramatic performance that makes the audience believe the singer is not simply worrying about their vocal production. So, it’s very rare that you can ﬁnd [that kind of] a singer—although, increasingly less so, because of what singers understand today, and the directors with whom they’re working. I remember when Minghella worked with the cast of Madame Butterﬂy on his ﬁrst day of rehearsal. He wouldn’t let them sing, which was unheard of. He had them read the libretto because he wanted them to do something that singers very rarely do, which is to listen to each other. The best singers are learning that they have to be able to give a complete theatrical performance. Deborah Voigt took on the role of Brünnhilde here in our Ring Cycle. If you were sitting here in the front rows of the audience, or in the back of the house, you had the sense of, here is somebody. She was Brünnhilde. DR: Do you have a desk in the orchestra? PG: Because I spend a lot of time there, making sure that the directors I’ve hired feel good about working here, I’ve sort of moved my headquarters. It’s not really a desk. In rehearsal modes, we have lots of tech desks. I have a laptop, a phone, and I do my business there. At the same time, I can keep an eye on what’s going on on the stage, and put my two cents in if necessary. DR: It’s an interesting analogy, though, to other worlds of technology where there’s a strong curator at happening

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - October 2011