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I have, actually. I'm not diminishing the performances...however the MET was increasingly becoming expensive for many and, frankly, culturally irrelevant for younger generations.
Opera was created in the 1500s as entertainment for the rich and powerful, and for most of its history that is what it is in reality. It is also overwhelmingly White. In an increasingly non-white/non-European US, and, in a society where there is no longer even a solid middle class who might patronize it out of admiration of the typical middle class admiration for things "higher than themselves", well...you get the point.
Tickets at the Met are cheaper than Broadway Shows. Show me a full price Broadway Ticket for 30 dollars without a discount.
The audience is not white. Have you been to a performance at the met at all? Lots and lots of Asians and they are young. Younger people come to the performances at night. There are also many tourists, but the Asians are usually educated New Yorkers.
The opera genre began in the late 1500s in Italy during the Baroque era but it didn't start to radiate throughout Europe until much later. Handel was a particular favorite with the middle class in England. Then, there is the whole operetta genre, a precursor to the modern musical and based on the French Opera Buffa, a favorite with middle class audiences.
The Metropolitan Opera company is probably the biggest opera company in NYC, but it is not the only one in NYC. There are many other opera companies throughout the US. For example the Houston Grand Opera is another large opera company and even Houston has about a dozen smaller opera companies. NYC's met opera company developed an even stronger following after they started their HD showings in local movie theaters. It actually makes money for them, according to friends who play in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Orchestras are too expensive, and world class singers demand too much, although he Met pays them less than European houses. They just cannot afford to play a small house.
Personally, I think I have never seen a half empty house and I have been going regularly since 1975.
If that had been a regular thing, they's have closed before the NYCity Opera.
I usually sit in the Orchestra and it is nearly always near full. In my younger days, I did a lot of standing room...my back won't take 3 hours of standing in place anymore.
What they can "afford" to do versus what happens are two different things; and yes there are nights where if you added up total attendance things are short. That and or a good amount of seats sold are discounted.
Half or three-quarters full does not mean entire rows are empty, but total amounts of butts in seats overall.
Met opera cannot "close" because they don't have any other place to perform. NYCO went bankrupt for a host of reasons. One of them was inability to sell enough seats at prices that covered costs for that huge NYS theater. Paris, France manages to support three or more opera houses, city barely has two (Met and BAM which in years has stepped up their game).
Opera, ballet, classical music audiences are dying out with the boomer and their parents' generations. Those were the people who regularly paid huge sums for season subscriptions, that and or going rate ticket prices.
Other thing of course is opera has lost and is losing (via death, age, etc...) the superstars of old that got butts in seats. Even past his prime Pavarotti could sell out the Met opera to standing room only. Ditto voices like Callas, and some others.
Today's singers either don't have great voices, and or they sing on the interest, not capital. More to the point you need a very big and strong voice due to size of Met. Many singers have ruined theirs trying to sing at Met before they were ready (if ever). These days singers are often happy avoiding Met all together and sticking to smaller houses because they know their voices just don't have that kind of juice.
Right now there are still enough wealthy persons willing to donate their time and of course money to Met opera. That in no small part is what keeps it from going way of NYCO; if or when that starts to wane, then everyone had better watch out.
Tickets at the Met are cheaper than Broadway Shows. Show me a full price Broadway Ticket for 30 dollars without a discount.
The audience is not white. Have you been to a performance at the met at all? Lots and lots of Asians and they are young. Younger people come to the performances at night. There are also many tourists, but the Asians are usually educated New Yorkers.
The opera genre began in the late 1500s in Italy during the Baroque era but it didn't start to radiate throughout Europe until much later. Handel was a particular favorite with the middle class in England. Then, there is the whole operetta genre, a precursor to the modern musical and based on the French Opera Buffa, a favorite with middle class audiences.
The Metropolitan Opera company is probably the biggest opera company in NYC, but it is not the only one in NYC. There are many other opera companies throughout the US. For example the Houston Grand Opera is another large opera company and even Houston has about a dozen smaller opera companies. NYC's met opera company developed an even stronger following after they started their HD showings in local movie theaters. It actually makes money for them, according to friends who play in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
I have been to the MET, yes. Not long ago...a decade ago (although I did not go by choice, as I don't care for Opera). I was specifically referring to the history of Opera and I am correct - historically, Opera was for the rich. Sure, there were periods of time where it was very popular (such as in Italy) but by and large, it is entertainment for the rich.
I agree that tickets at the Met are cheaper than Broadway shows, which kind of plays into what I've said: they had to reduce their prices due to declining popularity.
I vividly remember the audience at the NY Met. It looked to me like I was in a nursing home, with a majority of the audience ready for their Florida retirement and very few people under 35.
Old people = more money to spend + much Whiter crowd.
No worries though. If you love Opera so much there is always Youtube.
I vividly remember the audience at the NY Met. It looked to me like I was in a nursing home, with a majority of the audience ready for their Florida retirement and very few people under 35.
Old people = more money to spend + much Whiter crowd.
No worries though. If you love Opera so much there is always Youtube.
Let's cancel all concerts and plays in favor of Youtube!
Many opera attendees are foreign tourists or recent immigrants - Russian immigrants in particular. I am always surprised at the number of Russian speakers during intermission.
Let's cancel all concerts and plays in favor of Youtube!
Many opera attendees are foreign tourists or recent immigrants - Russian immigrants in particular. I am always surprised at the number of Russian speakers during intermission.
Sure beats getting COVID19 at mass gatherings!
I agree about the Russian tourists and immigrants. They seem more interested in "traditional" stuff than anybody here in this country.
Let's cancel all concerts and plays in favor of Youtube!
Many opera attendees are foreign tourists or recent immigrants - Russian immigrants in particular. I am always surprised at the number of Russian speakers during intermission.
There seem to be 4 groups of people who attend: Older white people as stated by Cavonas, younger Asian people, tourists, and Russian immigrants. Not to mention students. Opera began it's life with the Medeci family during the Baroque era, but expanded and changed over 400 years. Most people are usually stereotype opera from the 19th Century Nationalism movements and they think of heavy set German ladies with braids performing for the nobility. This image is from ignorance and humorous Looney Tunes cartoons., as you know. They also stereotype the audience as older, lol. What happens when the "old" people die off. Are they replaced with more old people. Do you get a Met subscription with your Medicare Card? Does the Met track old people down like AARP? Never mind all the millenials and generation Z in the audience. There are opera stars of today too and new operas are commissioned every season. Doesn't anyone remember the controversial The Death of Klinghoffer?
During the summer, the Met hosts visiting performing groups from other countries. During the spring, it is the residency of ABT which also has star power that draws audiences. Misty Copeland? There is fluidity between Broadway musicals, jazz clubs, and classical forms of entertainment. There has always been crossover.
I am not going to bother trying to contradict ignorant keyboard expert posters on this forum. I am not just an opera lover. I don't like to reveal too much personal information on a public message board. Let's just say that I have intimate knowledge about the NY classical music scene and am conservatory trained. This later morphed into a career in Broadway and Rock and eventually the wider entertainment field, but it always loops back.
I have been to the MET, yes. Not long ago...a decade ago (although I did not go by choice, as I don't care for Opera). I was specifically referring to the history of Opera and I am correct - historically, Opera was for the rich. Sure, there were periods of time where it was very popular (such as in Italy) but by and large, it is entertainment for the rich.
I agree that tickets at the Met are cheaper than Broadway shows, which kind of plays into what I've said: they had to reduce their prices due to declining popularity.
I vividly remember the audience at the NY Met. It looked to me like I was in a nursing home, with a majority of the audience ready for their Florida retirement and very few people under 35.
Old people = more money to spend + much Whiter crowd.
No worries though. If you love Opera so much there is always Youtube.
You mean retirement in Tokyo. You contradict yourself. Declining ticket sales that are reduced or old rich white people?
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