Protesters disrupt “Tannhäuser” at the Met to protest climate change

NEW YORK (AP) — Climate protesters caused a pair of disruptions totaling 22 minutes during the opening night of a revival of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Christian Gerhaher, a German baritone making his Met debut, was singing the aria from Wolfram’s second act Thursday night that says, “Before me appears a miraculous spring,” when people on both sides of the stage unfurled long vertical banners with capital letters. white on a black background.

“THERE IS NO OPERA ON A DEAD PLANET,” read one of the signs on the north side of the 4,000-seat auditorium. Met general manager Peter Gelb said Friday that the other banner had the name of the group, Extinction Rebellion NY, which took responsibility for the protest.

”Wake up! “The spring is contaminated,” shouted one protester. ”The spring is contaminated! The spring is poisoned! This is a climate emergency! This is a climate crisis! There will be no opera on a dead planet!”

Another shouted: “There is no art, there is nothing on a planet that is dying! We must end fossil fuels!”

The curtain came down as people booed and some shouted “Shut up!”

Members of the security team removed three protesters and Gelb addressed the audience and apologized for the interruption.

The performance resumed after a delay of about 8 minutes, as the audience applauded, but after the resumption, protesters in the orchestra section began shouting. That caused a delay of about 14 minutes when Gelb spoke to the audience again and said the performance would continue with the lights on at 25% so security could quickly identify any additional protesters.

“The company members were a little upset about this, including the artists,” Gelb said. “I consulted with Donald Runnicles, the director and the soloists and explained to them that they had to continue because we could eliminate the people as we could see them with the lights on, at that time there was no more demonstration.”

The performance continued and ended around midnight.

“The brief half-hour delay was less severe and less inconvenient than the extreme weather delays that are now becoming more frequent,” Extinction Rebellion NY said in a statement. “Today’s action highlights government and corporate negligence in the face of climate and ecological collapse.”

“Our key institutions, corporations and governments, operate according to quarterly profits and the election cycle, respectively, without regard for the long-term dangers to our survival. “This system is designed to steal from future generations, in order to maintain a lifestyle that benefits the ‘1 percent’ to the detriment of everyone else.”

Gelb said the protesters were handed over to police.

There are seven additional performances through December 23 of Otto Schenk’s 1977 production, starring Andreas Schager in the title role in a cast that includes Elza van den Heever as Elisabeth, Ekaterina Gubanova as Venus and Georg Zeppenfeld as Hermann. The last performance will be broadcast on radio around the world.