I like opera...
Posted on 09/12/2005 2:10:41 PM PDT by sitetest
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Opera announced Thursday [September 8] that the Pennsylvania-based home builder Toll Brothers will be the new corporate sponsor for its Saturday live radio broadcasts, an institution since 1931.
The broadcasts were thrown into jeopardy in 2003 when sponsor ChevronTexaco announced it was withdrawing its support. Last season's broadcasts were sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation and the Vincent A. Stabile Foundation, which Volpe said would continue to provide support.
The broadcasts cost about $6 million a season. Volpe did not say what part of the bill would be paid by Toll Brothers.
A fund started by former Met Chairwoman Beverly Sills to provide long-term support for the broadcasts has about $14 million, Volpe said.
The coming season will include 21 radio broadcasts from December 17, 2005, to May 6, 2006. The broadcasts reach 11 million people in 42 countries.
Toll Brothers, based in Horsham, Pennsylvania, calls itself "America's luxury home builder" and operates in 20 states.
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www.metopera.org
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Aria ready for some opera?
* snicker *
Reminds me of that hysterical Seinfeld episode:
GEORGE: (To Elaine) That's exquisite. Listen, uh, if it's not too much trouble, could you pass me that paper over there?
(Elaine gets the paper, he starts flipping through it.)
GEORGE: (To himself) Up again?! This is incredible. I'm.. I'm getting it.
ELAINE: You're getting what?
GEORGE: A stock.
JERRY: What stock?
GEORGE: Did you ever meet my friend, Simons?
JERRY: Maybe.
GOERGE: He knows this guy, Wilkinson. He made a fortune in the stock market. Now he's got some new thing - you know, there's supposed to be a big merger.
He wasn't even supposed to say anything. You guys should think about doing this too.
JERRY: How high's it suppose to go?
GEORGE: I don't know. But Simons said that if I wanted to get involved, that Wilkinson would tell me the exact right minute to sell. You wanna do it?
JERRY: Boy.. I don't know.
ELAINE: I'd do it but I don't have any money.
JERRY: What kind of company is it?
GEORGE: It's Sendrax. They've got some new kind of technique for televising opera.
ELAINE: Televising opera?
GEORGE: Some sort of electronic thingy.
JERRY: Well, how much are you going to invest?
GEORGE: (Unsure) Five thousand.. ten. Ten thousand.. Five thousand.
JERRY: Boy..
GEORGE: C'mon. Wilkinson's got millions invested in this stock. It's gone up three points since I've been watching it.
JERRY: What if I lose it?
GEORGE: C'mon, go for twenty-five hundred. We'll do it together. Come on, come on. We're in it together.
JERRY: (gives in) All right -- twenty-five hundred.
GEORGE: That's it.
[Setting: Jerry's apartment. Jerry's looking at a road map; Kramer is looking at the paper]
JERRY: Is that my paper?
KRAMER: Bad news, my friend.
JERRY: What? What news?
KRAMER: Sendrax.
JERRY: Oh, c'mon! It's down again?!
KRAMER: Two and a half points.
JERRY: Oh, I can't believe it. Let me see that. (Looks at the paper) That's four and a half points in three days! That's almost half my money!
KRAMER: Hey, I told ya.
JERRY: (Sarcastic) Yeah, you told me.
KRAMER: It's all manipulated with junk bonds. You can't win.
JERRY: (Holding the phone, calling George) There's one thing I don't understand. Why does it please you? (Into phone) George Costanza, please.
KRAMER: Hey, I don't care. I'm just telling you to (yelling) get rid of that stock, now!
JERRY: (Into phone) George, what's going on?!
KRAMER: Sell it, just say I'm selling!
JERRY: (Into phone) Well, where is the guy?! Nothing? Almost half my money's gone.. Well, call me right back. (Hangs up) Nobody can reach Wilkinson. He
hasn't been home or in his office in the past three days!
KRAMER: You know, I can't believe you put your money in that Sendrax. And you could've invested in my roll-out tie dispenser.
JERRY: Roll-out tie dispenser? What was that one?
KRAMER: Okay, you're in a restaurant. You've got a very big meeting coming up.
JERRY: Okay.
KRAMER: You just (makes noise) tear it off, and you got a new one right here. Then you're gone.
JERRY: You're gone alright.
I like opera...
Milton Cross, official commentator for the Met 1935 - 1974.
Excellent news!
Frank
Good news! These folks were briefly our clients, so that's nice to see.
Boy I havent heard one of these brodcasts in ages.
I know it low quality, but is there an internet station that broadcasts them?
please add me to your ping. Thanks, etabeta
Gotcha!
Personally, I prefer the downer operas. I've always enjoyed things that are frightfully tragic. You'd think I'd get enough of the despondency in my real life, but no, I've got to go for it in my artistic pursuits as well. :)
Mnnnnnn.
Methinks the Met will be out looking for a major sponsor again in, say, 3-5 years.
Of course, GWB could simply insert the Met into some future spending bill.
I like opera plots because they're so true to life. I mean, doesn't every gypsy throw the wrong baby into the fire once in a while?
Seriously, I'm glad to hear that they've found a new sponsor. If I'm ever in the market for a luxury home, I'll contact Toll Brothers. (But that possibility is about as realistic as an opera plot...)
Dear livius,
"I like opera plots because they're so true to life. I mean, doesn't every gypsy throw the wrong baby into the fire once in a while?"
LOL. That's why my older son really doesn't enjoy watching opera. He'll like the music, but feel tortured by the (utter lack of) plot lines.
sitetest
I'm a fan of the mythological plots, especially Wagner. It intrigues me that the plot line of the Ring of the Nibelung is so similar to Lord of the Rings--ring that gives the bearer untold power, but destroys their humanity; godlike beings using lesser folk as pawns; the destruction of a great tower of the gods and the passing of an age. I know Wagner borrowered heavily from mythology to pen the work, but he also added many of his own ideas. Furthermore, he popularized the story. I have to wonder if JRR Tolkien was a Ring Cycle devotee.
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