Top US Opera Company Reaches Deal With Striking Musicians

The show will go on again this week at the Lyric Opera of Chicago after striking orchestra musicians reached a deal with one of America's premiere arts institutions.

Chicago, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Oct, 2018 ) :The show will go on again this week at the Lyric Opera of Chicago after striking orchestra musicians reached a deal with one of America's premiere arts institutions.

A one-week strike had threatened the company's performance season just as it had been getting under way, after musicians complained of cost-cutting efforts that they said would reduce quality on stage.

Performances of Puccini's La Boheme and Mozart's Idomeneo were canceled last week, but will resume this week after the company reached a deal with musicians preserving the key components of the company's demands.

The agreement, which was ratified Sunday, calls for the full-time orchestra to be paired down by four players, instead of the initially-proposed five, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The company also preserved a reduction of the operatic performance Calendar from 24 weeks to 22.

Orchestra musicians said they managed to limit the cuts in their salaries and believed a longer strike would have been destructive to the company and its workers, according to the Tribune.

"These agreements will protect the artistic brilliance on our stage while also helping to ensure Lyric's long-term financial security," the 65-year-old institution said in an emailed announcement.

The company has reduced its number of opera performances over the last decade and added musical theater to its repertoire to generate audience interest.