There Has to Be a Twist

The unlikely run of The Who's 'Tommy' at the Met

To say that the 1960s were a rough decade for the Metropolitan Opera would be an understatement. In the summer of 1961, the company faced one of its greatest labor disputes, which included struggles with its orchestra’s union over both fair compensation for long rehearsals and nonstop performance schedules, as well as control over hiring and firing of orchestra members. 

In his second decade as the company’s General Manager, Sir Rudolf Bing began to lock horns more than ever with the Met Orchestra, who were frustrated with working more than their colleagues in symphony orchestras (which averaged about three performances a week) for less compensation. This was by no means new in 1961 compared to 1916, but, as Johanna Fiedler notes in her history of the Met, Molto Agitato, the ‘60s marked a crucial shift in Met orchestra personnel. They now had more musicians who were American versus European, and, by comparison, the Americans were more willing to stand their ground at the expense of art…