A Fight at the Opera
Peter Gelb has a bold vision. Can the Met afford it?
BY JAMES B. STEWART
Link: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/23/a-fight-at-the-opera
The Metropolitan Opera is by far the largest arts organization dwarfing its competition. The Met's expenses last year were $327 million (1). The budget for the Lyric Opera in Chicago, for example, is $70 million and Royal Opera's annual budget is about $170 m (3).
The Met Orchestra Union made a good case that Gelb's new productions were lavish, wastefully expensive, and failed to connect with audiences. Had the new Ring been a success it would have been hailed as a bold and successful new production championed by General Manager Peter Gelb. However, it was a flop and the production hasn't made back the cost of putting it on. Rarely lauded, if ever, was Gelb's good intentions -- taking a bold risk.
In a way the Met is a victim of it's success -- it's a the standard for top-tier opera. The Met's success has allowed it to expand into a year-round schedule, the Met in HD, radio broadcasts, and 6-7 new productions a year. This is all well and good -- but a new mounting a new and untested opera is like making a new blockbuster movie, both are complex and large organization and are neither nimble nor cheap.
With millions and millions of dollars on the line, the Met can't afford to take chances. Big-budget blockbuster movies such as Spider Man 2 with a budget of $255 m (4) are a reminder that movie studios stick to the proven path. It's no coincidence that large budget movies are derivative -- an endless parade of sequels, prequels, and remakes of Marvel Comics -- the audience is then so give the people what they want.
The larger the bet -- the less the risk. This is why the most daring, new and provocative things, be it movies, music or art happen on the small scale. It's okay to fail when you're small. My solution for the Met would be to do what the movie studios do -- divide responsibilities: have a blockbuster division with a large budget devoted to popular hits as well an indie studio devoted to making risky low-budget movies. Another option for the Met is to embrace "too big to fail" and put on good crowd-pleasing operas. After all, Spider Man 2 wasn't that bad.
1. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/23/a-fight-at-the-opera
2. http://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2014/07/lyric-opera-clarifies-budget-numbers/
3. http://static.roh.org.uk/about/annual-review/pdfs/annualreview1213.pdf
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Spider-Man_2
