Will the Met Opera be bankrupt soon .....

[sutherland]

I'm sure many of you have heard of the Met's plan to sell its Chagall murals provided that the buyer will allow them to remain in the Met lobby. Who would agree to that?  Also, the endowment fund is below $200 million.  The other Met - the Metropolitan Museum of Art - has an endowment of several billion. and the Met Opera should have an endowment of a similar size if it hopes to survive.

[sydneyboy]

Depressing but a non uncommon situation for the world’s opera companies. Opera Australia is in a diabolical financial situation.

[sutherland]

14 hours ago, sydneyboy said:

Opera Australia is in a diabolical financial situation.

Does the Australian government subsidize Opera Australia in any way?  The Met Opera apparently gets very little money from our government; it relies on the generosity of wealthy benefactors. I read once that if the Met were to sell out every performance it would still only generate 50% of the annual budget.  The other 50% has to come from other sources.  The other problem is a lack of star singers willing to come to the USA.  If Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, or Jonas Kaufman were on the Met roster it would be easier to sell tickets.

[sydneyboy]

8 hours ago, sutherland said:

Does the Australian government subsidize Opera Australia in any way?  The Met Opera apparently gets very little money from our government; it relies on the generosity of wealthy benefactors. I read once that if the Met were to sell out every performance it would still only generate 50% of the annual budget.  The other 50% has to come from other sources.  The other problem is a lack of star singers willing to come to the USA.  If Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, or Jonas Kaufman were on the Met roster it would be easier to sell tickets.

The government does subsidise Opera Australia but with the demands on the public purse not to the extent many of us would like. The Covid lockdown period played havoc with OA’s finances and they had to sell property it owned to stave off bankruptcy.

Out of interest why are those named singers no longer singing at the Met? I’ve noticed they still get star singers eg Lise Davidsen as Isolde in the current season. I heard her in Don Carlo at Covent Garden a few years ago and she was fabulous. Is there a finer female singer in the world at present?

[sutherland]

21 minutes ago, sydneyboy said:

Out of interest why are those named singers no longer singing at the Met? I’ve noticed they still get star singers eg Lise Davidsen as Isolde in the current season. I heard her in Don Carlo at Covent Garden a few years ago and she was fabulous. Is there a finer female singer in the world at present?

I've heard that singers like Terfel and Kaufman are very family oriented and prefer to stay on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean to be close to home.  Rehearsals and then a run of performances in NY would require a commitment of 5 weeks or more.  Cecilia Bartoli does not like to fly (she's said that in interviews) and she may get higher performance fees in Europe.  I have never heard Lise Davidsen sing live, but don't you think Cecilia Bartoli is the more important singer of the two? .... albeit singing very different repertoire.  On a side note, the finest female singer I ever heard in my entire life was Sydney's own Joan Sutherland.

[sydneyboy]

Just now, sutherland said:

I've heard that singers like Terfel and Kaufman are very family oriented and prefer to stay on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean to be close to home.  Rehearsals and then a run of performances in NY would require a commitment of 5 weeks or more.  Cecilia Bartoli does not like to fly (she's said that in interviews) and she may get higher performance fees in Europe.  I have never heard Lise Davidsen sing live, but don't you think Cecilia Bartoli is the more important singer of the two? .... albeit singing very different repertoire.  On a side note, the finest female singer I ever heard in my entire life was Sydney's own Joan Sutherland.

Lise Daviden is one of the new generation of super star singers only in her late 30’s. The music director at the Met described her voice as one in a million. She recently sang Isolde in Barcelona to rave reviews. By the way she just gave birth to twins. She has a totally different voice type and repertoire to someone like Bartoli. I heard Joan many times in Sydney and I agree she was a great artist.

[sutherland]

The deal that Peter Gelb arranged with the Saudis for $200 million will not happen - Met Opera's $200 Million Saudi Arabia Deal Falls Through

I can easily believe that Gelb announced this to the press before the contracts were signed just as a way to prevent the Saudis from reneging ... but it didn't pan out.  To prevent the company from dying the Met needs to rent out the opera house for pop music events.  In Germany smaller operas houses will have a run of "Hello Dolly" in German and then a production of "Die Meistersinger".  The other option, discussed for many years, is to sell the naming rights so one day we might have "The Tampax-Metropolitan Opera House"

Edited April 25 by sutherland

[jeezifonly]

Throughout Europe and many parts of Asia, students are exposed to all of classical music at a much higher rate than the same-aged American kids. This creates more adults who aren't scared by it. Not so, in the US. American opera companies and orchestras have always lacked government funding at the level of other G-7 nations, and through ever-expanding competition for entertainment dollars the formerly life-long fans have become occasional and older. 

The Met is unique in its branding (The Met!) and 60-year history in a house of its own, in a city that already brings in people of great wealth to donate and purchase season tickets. It's an operationally-heavy production machine, with a huge payroll of folks you never even see. Add the cost of musicians, chorus, ballet, and casting the stars we know from recording and streaming fame, each performance becomes an enormous money-suck for the company. Box office has still not bounced back after the pandemic.

The current US gov't attitude towards the public arts funding (if they can't sell it at a profit, why should we help them make it?) ignores the greater good of exposure to enduring music. And if people want to not come, you can't stop them. Add the fact that the State Dept. is making working here harder, and less welcoming in general to non-Americans, the % of international artists who turn down offers here has grown a lot. And when they do agree, it's for a higher fee.

All American opera companies are struggling to keep up. The Met will not be the next one to ring down the curtain for good. 

Life is short. 

OPERA IS LONG

 

Edited Wednesday at 05:18 AM by jeezifonly

[sutherland]

5 hours ago, jeezifonly said:

Throughout Europe and many parts of Asia, students are exposed to all of classical music at a much higher rate than the same-aged American kids.

Many people mention our educational system to explain the decreasing audience.  Nobody seems to be blaming mom and dad and the fact that music is no longer viewed as a priority.  When I was growing up we had a piano in our living room and I had weekly lessons.  I'd say that was true for maybe 40% of my classmates.  If you walk into an elementary school today and ask the students how many have a piano at home and take lessons I'd say it would be below 10%.  People have changed their priorities. 

[+ sync]

1 hour ago, sutherland said:

Many people mention our educational system to explain the decreasing audience.  Nobody seems to be blaming mom and dad and the fact that music is no longer viewed as a priority.  When I was growing up we had a piano in our living room and I had weekly lessons.  I'd say that was true for maybe 40% of my classmates.  If you walk into an elementary school today and ask the students how many have a piano at home and take lessons I'd say it would be below 10%.  People have changed their priorities. 

I also remember when a piano was commonplace in many homes, however, these days the expense and maintenance for a piano is just not doable for many/most working-class families.

[BSR]

4 hours ago, sync said:

I also remember when a piano was commonplace in many homes, however, these days the expense and maintenance for a piano is just not doable for many/most working-class families.

I doubt it was all that easy to manage for families in the past either, but many made it a priority because a piano provided entertainment when options were limited.  Before cable TV, the Internet, and umpteen streaming platforms, your primary source of entertainment was the television that had only 3 channels.  With what families today spend on multiple TVs, iPhones, tablets, laptops, cable subscriptions, Internet, and streaming platforms, you might be able to afford a decent second-hand piano.

[+ sync]

3 hours ago, BSR said:

I doubt it was all that easy to manage for families in the past either, but many made it a priority because a piano provided entertainment when options were limited.  Before cable TV, the Internet, and umpteen streaming platforms, your primary source of entertainment was the television that had only 3 channels.  With what families today spend on multiple TVs, iPhones, tablets, laptops, cable subscriptions, Internet, and streaming platforms, you might be able to afford a decent second-hand piano.

You make a good monetary point, however,  the technology you mentioned can bring a great deal of music of many different genres into homes.