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Met Opera Trims The Fat To Spare The Pain |
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|  NY1
03/12/2009 12:08 PM
By: Roma Torre
[Note: the video that comes with the article can be seen here: http://www.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/95436/met-opera-trims-the-fat-to-spare-the-pain/Default.aspx ]
As the Metropolitan Opera will celebrate its 125th anniversary this Sunday, general manager Peter Gelb reflects on how he maintains artistic integrity in the face of a shrinking dollar. NY1's Roma Torre filed the following report.
The Metropolitan Opera is the crown jewel of Lincoln Center. With a projected budget of nearly $300 million and 1,500 employees, the Met is the largest non-profit performing arts company in the world.
As much a business as a cultural institution, running this place in the midst of worldwide economic turmoil is a challenge. General manager Peter Gelb says it's caused headaches, but he insists that despite some cutbacks they are staying the artistic course.
"To panic or to step backwards is not the right way to deal with the economic crisis," says Gelb. "We have to move boldly forward and we need to keep our loyal audience with us."
Since Gelb took over three years ago, the Met says attendance has increased by 12 percent, and that capacity is now at 88 percent. But anticipating the worst, Gelb has instituted 10 percent pay cuts to all salaries, including his own and those of the singers, and certain programs have been eliminated.
"We have looked at every item, line item by line item, to find places to cut. We've been able to cut about $7 million out of our budget this year," he says.
Audiences are not likely to notice the changes this year, but two of the opera house's most celebrated fixtures are at risk of disappearing. The famed giant murals by Marc Chagall are being put up as collateral for an existing loan, but Gelb doesn't think they will be going anywhere.
Next season marks the first that Gelb and music director James Levine have planned exclusively themselves, and already they have had to cancel a handful of the costlier revivals.
Still, most of the shows will go on and Gelb's innovations have made the Met more popular than ever. His successful innovations include the live high-definition transmissions of nine operas to worldwide movie theaters, discounted rush tickets and free tickets to dress rehearsals.
"Now, because of some of the changes that we've made, there is a greater interest than ever before for the top stars to be on the stage on the Met in greater abundance than even before," says Gelb.
Even critics acknowledge Gelb has orchestrated a successful turnaround for this great company that, while financially-challenged, is artistically at the top of its game. |
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