Why The Met’s New Opera Has A Rough Time

Justin Davidson writes that Tan Dun’s “First Emperor” is trapped in opera’s current production system. “In a sense, there is no excuse for an opera that was commissioned a decade ago getting to opening night without its final coat of varnish. The Met is not the place for tryouts. But company, composer, audience and cast are all locked into a peculiar system that makes it difficult for new operas to mature.”