Today in History: October 22 Metropolitan Opera Opens in New
York City Did you knowa…I make every month de arrangements for
de Italian opera? It is ten times so much refreshing as de
movies…It is marvelous. It causa to swell de heart…you never
heard de music so sweeta. Yes, de words are de words of Italy.
But de fine music, it isa de same in all language. It conquer de
spirit. It maka to soar de soul…De price is fifty cents.
"Interview with Vito Cacciola," Merton R. Lovett, interviewer,
March 24, 1939. American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the
Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1940 The Metropolitan Opera House
(Met) in New York City, then located on Broadway at 39th Street
in New York City, opened on October 22, 1883, with a performance
of Charles Gounod's Faust, the tale of a German sorcerer who
sold his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge, power,
youth, and love. The opera, although composed in French and
based on Goethe's German poem, was sung on this occasion in
Italian, the favored language of t