The matinee of Guillaume Tell was abandoned following an incident initially thought to be a terrorist act.

Mainstream media who usually show scant interest in opera were alight yesterday after an unidentified white powder was reported as having been tipped into the orchestra pit at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. The matinee performance of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell in Pierre Audi’s new staging was cancelled, as was the evening performance of L’Italiana in Algeri.

The incident occurred around 4:30pm, during the second intermission of the opera, when an audience member was observed sprinkling a powdery substance over the edge of the pit in two places, prompting anti-terror units to be called to Lincoln Center. The audience filed back to their seats following the interval, but the performance never resumed as the action had been perceived as a potential threat to life and tests were underway to identify the powder.

Several members of the audience then informed police that a man, now believed to have been idenfified via CCTV surveillance cameras, had told them that he was there to scatter the ashes of a friend and mentor. “I don’t believe at this point that we see any criminal intent here,” said John Miller,...