Is the fat lady singing everywhere? How is opera faring worldwide?

The Met is too damn big....and expensive

The travails of New York's Metropolitan Opera have been brought to light here and elsewhere.  Budgets are up (WAY UP) and ticket sales are down.  Impresario Peter Gelb has come up with a laundry list of reasons for the Met's woes:

• (The age of opera-goers, relative to the innovative HD broadcasts), "What we've basically done is to extend the lifespan of the opera-goer. In the US, 75% of the cinema audience are 65 or over. And 30% are over 75. Those are people who are so old that they can't go the Met, to the theatre, any more."   AND, "there aren't enough new audience members replacing the older ones who are dying off. It's no secret that the frequency of operagoing in the US is decreasing."

• (Rising costs, which have increased 50% during Gelb's tenure):  "This battle (with labor unions) is an existential one that has to be won. If we're not able to create a more sustainable business model now, we know we will face a bankruptcy situation in the next two or three years."

• (Continually blaming salaries for financial problems):  "Even if I was the worst manager in the world," Gelb said in a Guardian interview, "clearly, we have to make savings there."

Semper Oper, Dresden

Still, one is left to wonder how the art-form is performing on other stages throughout the world.  Today, Norman Lebrecht reported that the Semper Oper in Dresden sold nearly 92% of its seats during the last season.  The Vienna State Opera continues to sell at a nearly astronomical rate, very close to 100%.  Alex Beard, CEO of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, notes that productions are selling out, with shows in the cinema season often selling fastest. He says the composition of ticket buyers at Covent Garden is visibly changing, and he is convinced that the live cinema screenings, for which student standby tickets will be introduced at many venues next season, are helping to build a new audience, along with initiatives such as student ambassadors in universities, and its "young friends" scheme, which has gone from "zero to a thousand members in months".

But the Met remains the "gold standard" against which all other houses in the U.S. are compared.  But why is opera flourishing seemingly everywhere but America?

Reason #1 (and this is a biggie):  the size of the opera house itself.  This is a most important consideration, especially when one recalls the Met's capacity of nearly 4000.

• Hungarian State Opera, Budapest:  1261 seats

  

  Hungarian State Opera, Budapest

• Brussels' La Monnaie: 1700
• Paris Opera Garnier:  2200
• Venice La Fenice:  1000
• Milan La Scala:  2800

The list could go on to include significantly smaller houses (Bucharest comes to mind, as does the Estates Theater in Prague). 

In this country I have attended opera and/or musical theater performances at the Chicago Lyric Opera (capacity over 3500), the Auditorium Theater, Chicago (over 3900), and the Des Moines Civic Center (over 2700), among others.  I must prefer the 1200-seat Estates Theater to the Lyric for a very intimate (as intended) production of Don Giovanni.  Dubuque's own Grand Opera House originally had a capacity of 1100, more than enough for its opening night Carmen (in 1890).  

Estates Theater, Prague:  Don Giovanni premiered here.

Reason #2:  Ticket costs:  I've discussed this before.  The Met has priced itself out of business, especially for tourists.  Visiting Europe, I've never paid over $20 for any seat and in Romania, I was given prime tickets as a guest of the Director of the National Opera.

Reason #3:  "Star power":  European houses largely maintain ensemble casts, developing native talent from within the ranks.  Refusing to pay a single artist the sum total of everyone else on stage is only financially prudent.  I've often wondered if smaller, regional orchestras in our country could sell as well employing local soloists rather than major "stars".  Certainly, Yo-Yo Ma is a big ticket draw, HOWEVER, so is his fee.

I remain convinced that opera itself is not the problem, although we need to educate our young people that it's much more than fat sopranos bellowing while wearing horns and breastplates.  Great stories, amazing music, and glorious voices should be enough to assure the art form's future, but again, we've got lots of educating to do...