Fat lady is given 72 hours grace before opera house’s threatened closure.

The Metropolitan Opera management has postponed the threatened lockout of its workers that was scheduled for midnight NY time. The reprieve came after the official mediator requested an additional 72-hour period to allow labour contract negotiations between the Met and its unions to continue.

In the first sign of progress in the protracted and increasingly acrimonious dispute, three of the 15 unions involved have reached agreements with management. Ushers, ticketing staff, cleaning staff and building engineers, whose contracts were due to expire at midnight, appear to have secured deals.

Crucially, however, the unions representing the singers, orchestral musicians and stagehands are yet to settle. The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and Local 802, the two most vocal unions representing the Met’s chorus and orchestra, only agreed to a mediator being brought in on condition the Met management withdrew its threat to impose a lockout. That step, they maintain, was a premeditated tactic of embattled General Manager Peter Gelb.

“It’s too early for us to know if we will be able to extend the contract deadline, but the Met is willing to compromise, and if the other groups are...