The conflict went right down to the final curtain, as it tends to do in opera. Just before the New Year's Eve performance of Tosca last week, the members of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra voted 72-5 to accept a new contract proposal given them only hours before. If they had voted no and struck, the result could have been disastrous for the financially plagued Met (TIME, Dec. 29). The musicians, who were paid a minimum of $385 a week, had asked for a one-year 12% pay increase; they accepted an 11 % raise spread over this season and next. The...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
