Peter Gelb
Encyclopedia
Peter Gelb is an American arts administrator. He is currently General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City
.
, and Barbara Gelb. Arthur is a former Managing Editor of The New York Times
.
While in high school, Gelb began his association with the Metropolitan Opera
as a part-time usher. Having started in the arts management world at 17 as office boy to Sol Hurok
, Gelb himself became manager of Vladimir Horowitz
during the last phase of Horowitz's career. In 1978 he began work as an assistant in the Boston Symphony Orchestra
press office.
Gelb joined Ronald Wilford's Columbia Artists Management
(CAMI) organization in 1981, making short films about classical musicians. Back at the Metropolitan Opera, he served as executive producer of "The Metropolitan Presents", the Met's series of televised opera broadcasts, for six years starting in 1988.
's American division after Sony acquired CAMI video. Within one year he had been appointed head of Sony Classical worldwide. While at Sony Classical, Gelb pursued a controversial strategy of emphasizing crossover
music over mainstream classical repertoire Examples include cellist Yo-Yo Ma
, who was encouraged to record americana
; electronic composer Vangelis
, who recorded choral symphony Mythodea
; and Charlotte Church
, a pop artist who started her career as a classical singer.
Additionally, Gelb oversaw the recording and release of the soundtrack to the film "Titanic," the highest selling film soundtrack ever.
, on August 1, 2006.
Following the beginning of his tenure in 2006, the Met had greatly improved ticket sales. Hit new productions of Madama Butterfly
directed by Anthony Minghella
; The Barber of Seville
by Bartlett Sher
; and Tan Dun
's new opera The First Emperor
directed by Zhang Yimou
sold out their entire runs. The Met became the first art institution in the world to offer live high definition broadcasts of its operas to movie theaters in many countries of the world, allowing viewings of a live opera performance in a cinema or, later, on public broadcasting
's high definition television channels. Given a year's overlap from the time of his appointment to when he took over from Volpe, Gelb was able to plan for these presentations well in advance.
Gelb has also asserted the importance of his combining the roles of financial and general management with that of being overall creative director. He has described plans to stage more productions each year but in an era of computer-generated visual effects, possibly no longer needing "tons of scenery" built and retained for each new production. These were among other plans for drawing in new (and younger) audiences without deterring the older opera lovers, the wealth and patronage of some of whom sustains the most lavishly privately-financed opera house in the world.
His other ideas included an annual "family-oriented" presentation at Christmas
time, and collaborations with the Vivian Beaumont Theater of Lincoln Center to develop newer musical works with musicians such as Wynton Marsalis
, Rachel Portman
and Rufus Wainwright
. In January 2007 Gelb announced a commission for a new opera from Osvaldo Golijov
, tentatively scheduled for the 2010-2011 season. However, following the death in 2008 of Anthony Minghella
who was to have written the libretto
, the premiere was postponed to 2014.
alleged that while Gelb was affiliated with the Boston Symphony, his father Arthur Gelb
, Managing Editor of The New York Times
, allowed the group excessive coverage in the New York Times. "[T]he Boston band received more column inches than the paper's hometown New York Philharmonic
." A 1990 article in Variety
magazine reported that "[c]lients of Arthur Gelb's son, Peter ... were said by staffers at the time to be given what one described as 'ridiculous overcoverage.'"
His career at Sony coincided with the decline in sales of classical recordings and a reduction in new classical recording by the major labels. "Crossover" and soundtrack releases were promoted, while at the same time Gelb was criticized for failing to make available much of Sony's huge library of classical performances. Regarding repertoire choices, the writer Norman Lebrecht has quoted Gelb as saying that he would "rather lose a million on a movie score than make $10,000 on a small shit" (referring to low-profit mainstream classical releases) and, "I know what good music is, I just don’t want to record it." When Gelb was succeeded by Gilbert Hetherwick as the head of the newly-merged Sony BMG Masterworks
in 2005, Hetherwick said that "I think that making records that are basically pop records and calling them classical is in some ways surrendering."
Gelb's history at Sony caused concern among critics when he was appointed to take over as General Manager at the Metropolitan Opera. He has responded to fears that he would dilute the Met's artistic standards as he seeks a wider audience for the company. “I think what I’m doing is exactly what the Met engaged me to do, which is build bridges to a broader public. This is not about dumbing down the Met, it’s just making it accessible."
. He has two children from a previous marriage.
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Early life
Peter Gelb is the son of Arthur GelbArthur Gelb
Arthur Gelb was the managing editor of the New York Times.He began working the night shift as a copy boy. He ascended through the ranks holding several titles in many different departments. His biggest impacts were while working in the drama department. He enjoyed Eugene O'Neill's plays so much...
, and Barbara Gelb. Arthur is a former Managing Editor of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
While in high school, Gelb began his association with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
as a part-time usher. Having started in the arts management world at 17 as office boy to Sol Hurok
Sol Hurok
Sol Hurok was a world-famous 20th century American impresario.-Biography:...
, Gelb himself became manager of Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
during the last phase of Horowitz's career. In 1978 he began work as an assistant in the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
press office.
Gelb joined Ronald Wilford's Columbia Artists Management
Columbia Artists Management
Columbia Artists Management is an international leader in managing the careers and touring activities of the world's most prominent performing artists and institutions.Led by Chairman and CEO Ronald A...
(CAMI) organization in 1981, making short films about classical musicians. Back at the Metropolitan Opera, he served as executive producer of "The Metropolitan Presents", the Met's series of televised opera broadcasts, for six years starting in 1988.
Career at Sony Classical
In 1993 Gelb became head of Sony Classical RecordsSony Classical Records
Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record...
's American division after Sony acquired CAMI video. Within one year he had been appointed head of Sony Classical worldwide. While at Sony Classical, Gelb pursued a controversial strategy of emphasizing crossover
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
music over mainstream classical repertoire Examples include cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, who was encouraged to record americana
Americana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...
; electronic composer Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
, who recorded choral symphony Mythodea
Mythodea
Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey is a choral symphony by Greek electronic composer and artist Vangelis. Originally premiered in concert in 1993, it was published in 2001 by Vangelis' new record label Sony Classical, which also set up the NASA connection and promoted a new...
; and Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
, a pop artist who started her career as a classical singer.
Additionally, Gelb oversaw the recording and release of the soundtrack to the film "Titanic," the highest selling film soundtrack ever.
Metropolitan Opera
Gelb became the new General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, taking over from Joseph VolpeJoseph Volpe (opera)
Joseph Volpe was General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1990 to 2006. In all, he spent 42 years working at the Met in various capacities, rising rapidly to managerial positions.- Early life :...
, on August 1, 2006.
Following the beginning of his tenure in 2006, the Met had greatly improved ticket sales. Hit new productions of Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
directed by Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
; The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
by Bartlett Sher
Bartlett Sher
Bartlett Sher , is an American theatre director. He received both the 2008 Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for his direction of the Broadway revival of South Pacific. The New York Times has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but...
; and Tan Dun
Tan Dun
Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...
's new opera The First Emperor
The First Emperor
The First Emperor is an opera in two acts with a libretto written in English by Tan Dun and Ha Jin, and music by Tan Dun. The opera received its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera at the Lincoln Center in New York City on 21 December 2006, conducted by the composer and with Plácido Domingo in the...
directed by Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
sold out their entire runs. The Met became the first art institution in the world to offer live high definition broadcasts of its operas to movie theaters in many countries of the world, allowing viewings of a live opera performance in a cinema or, later, on public broadcasting
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
's high definition television channels. Given a year's overlap from the time of his appointment to when he took over from Volpe, Gelb was able to plan for these presentations well in advance.
Gelb has also asserted the importance of his combining the roles of financial and general management with that of being overall creative director. He has described plans to stage more productions each year but in an era of computer-generated visual effects, possibly no longer needing "tons of scenery" built and retained for each new production. These were among other plans for drawing in new (and younger) audiences without deterring the older opera lovers, the wealth and patronage of some of whom sustains the most lavishly privately-financed opera house in the world.
His other ideas included an annual "family-oriented" presentation at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
time, and collaborations with the Vivian Beaumont Theater of Lincoln Center to develop newer musical works with musicians such as Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, Rachel Portman
Rachel Portman
Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman, OBE is a British composer, best known for her film work. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Score...
and Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
. In January 2007 Gelb announced a commission for a new opera from Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
, tentatively scheduled for the 2010-2011 season. However, following the death in 2008 of Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
who was to have written the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, the premiere was postponed to 2014.
Controversy
In his book, Who Killed Classical Music?, Norman LebrechtNorman Lebrecht
Norman Lebrecht is a British commentator on music and cultural affairs and a novelist. He was a columnist for The Daily Telegraph from 1994 until 2002 and assistant editor of the Evening Standard from 2002 until 2009...
alleged that while Gelb was affiliated with the Boston Symphony, his father Arthur Gelb
Arthur Gelb
Arthur Gelb was the managing editor of the New York Times.He began working the night shift as a copy boy. He ascended through the ranks holding several titles in many different departments. His biggest impacts were while working in the drama department. He enjoyed Eugene O'Neill's plays so much...
, Managing Editor of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, allowed the group excessive coverage in the New York Times. "[T]he Boston band received more column inches than the paper's hometown New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
." A 1990 article in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine reported that "[c]lients of Arthur Gelb's son, Peter ... were said by staffers at the time to be given what one described as 'ridiculous overcoverage.'"
His career at Sony coincided with the decline in sales of classical recordings and a reduction in new classical recording by the major labels. "Crossover" and soundtrack releases were promoted, while at the same time Gelb was criticized for failing to make available much of Sony's huge library of classical performances. Regarding repertoire choices, the writer Norman Lebrecht has quoted Gelb as saying that he would "rather lose a million on a movie score than make $10,000 on a small shit" (referring to low-profit mainstream classical releases) and, "I know what good music is, I just don’t want to record it." When Gelb was succeeded by Gilbert Hetherwick as the head of the newly-merged Sony BMG Masterworks
Sony BMG Masterworks
Sony Masterworks is a record label. It is the result of a restructuring of Sony Music Entertainment's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterworks....
in 2005, Hetherwick said that "I think that making records that are basically pop records and calling them classical is in some ways surrendering."
Gelb's history at Sony caused concern among critics when he was appointed to take over as General Manager at the Metropolitan Opera. He has responded to fears that he would dilute the Met's artistic standards as he seeks a wider audience for the company. “I think what I’m doing is exactly what the Met engaged me to do, which is build bridges to a broader public. This is not about dumbing down the Met, it’s just making it accessible."
Personal life
Gelb is married to the conductor Keri-Lynn WilsonKeri Lynn Wilson
Keri-Lynn Wilson is a Canadian conductor with a growing reputation in Europe, where she has performed with the Hamburg, Munich, and Vienna opera companies, among others. She is married to Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera.* in the...
. He has two children from a previous marriage.