NEW YORK (AP) — Climate protesters caused a pair of interruptions totaling 22 minutes during the opening night of a revival of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” at the Metropolitan Opera.
Christian Gerhaher, a German baritone making his Met Opera debut, was singing Wolfram’s second-act aria on Thursday night in which he says “und sieh, mir zeiget sich ein wunderbronnen (before me a miraculous spring appears)” when people on either side of the balcony unfurled long vertical banners with white capital letters on a black background.
“NO OPERA ON A DEAD PLANET,” read the one on the north side of the 4,000-capacity auditorium. Met general manager Peter Gelb said Friday the other banner had the name of the group, Extinction Rebellion NY, which took responsibility.
“Wake up! The spring is polluted,” one protester shouted. “The spring is tainted! The spring is poisoned! This is a climate emergency! This is a climate crisis! There will be no opera on a dead planet!”
Yelled another: “There is no art, there is no anything on a planet that is dying! We must end fossil fuel!”