Figaro, Feature for WDR

New York is the city that never sleeps. Its nickname is "The Big Apple," and people in New York seem to act crazier than in other parts of the United States. That's not a surprise, because one strange individual hardly makes a difference in the high-rise canyons of Manhattan that flock with millions of people every day. However, things are different in the world of opera. The Metropolitan Opera, located at the heart of Manhattan, plays it safe. The biggest and most famous American opera house depends largely on a conservative audience. Every once in a while, they commission a new work, and they have accepted an increasing number of early 20th century works in their repertory. However, it's a performance of "Le Nozze di Figaro" with a celebrity cast that secures its financial well-being. Today's matinee is sold out, with an audience of almost 4.000. They get to see an eleven-year-old production that was originally staged Jean Pierre Ponnelle who died in 1988. Georg Hirsch has already seen one of the Met performances, to find out how the artists keep an old production of an old opera alive.

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