The question is repeated, both uncomfortable and fascinating: What if the operatic boom was, in fact, a mirage? Coinciding with the return of the season in September, the major coliseums raise the curtain with spectacular lineups, dizzying numbers, and media attention that ignites expectations. In Madrid, for example, the Teatro Real opened with Othello in homage to Shakespeare, with Twenty performances on the agenda and opening performance seats above 600 euros; a shocking start that seems to confirm the popularity of the genre.
However, a closer look reveals cracks. Operatic euphoria has succeeded the symphonic fever of the end of the last century, when auditoriums, subscriptions and sponsorships multiplied almost feverishly to settle a historical cultural debt. Today the game is different: opera fills theaters and attracts patronage, yes, But production costs are constantly increasing and public money is not flowing. as before. From here, it’s helpful to draw on specific data and examples from Spain, Italy, and the United States to understand the scope of the issue.
Spain: from symphonic fury to operatic phenomenon
For decades, Spain experienced a true “golden age” of symphonic music. Venues were built, cycles were born and a network of patrons was consolidated. which made a strong push. Today, with the turn of the century, the focus has shifted toward opera: symphony cycles retain their audiences, but they no longer grow at the same pace or attract sponsorships as easily.
In the lyrical field, the panorama seems buoyant. The venues are regularly filled and the opera project an aura of glamour. that conquers donors and brands. Some believe this craze is here to stay; others, more cautious, suspect that the cycle—like the symphonic cycle in its day—has an expiration date. It is enough to observe the European environment to understand that the bonanza may be transitory..
Economic reality acts as a counterweight. Opera is an art of very high cost: sets, costumes, choir, orchestra, soloists, technical teams… everything counts. Meanwhile, administrations must balance accounts, contain the deficit, and prioritize items; frequently, The “culture for the rich” label makes it difficult to expand subsidiesThere are exceptions, such as Munich, which has managed to improve its equipment, but this is not the norm.
For its part, the public responds, and examples such as a packed Liceu confirm the social appeal. Even so, the challenge lies in ensuring continuity without raising prices to dissuasive levels. The inaugural ticket price of over 600 euros at the Real Madrid was eloquent: The balance between sustainability and access is the first line of tension.
Costs, financing and an increasingly tight equation
Theater budgets are compressed. The production bill increases year after year, often above the CPI, while the scope for increasing public and private revenue is limited. In this context, management teams are turning to various levers: international co-productions, reruns of safe titles, cache readjustments and more aggressive business strategies.
The immediate consequence is usually an increase in the price of seats. Managers, pressured by the bottom line, increase inflows and prioritize premium subscriptions, with the risk of homogenizing the audience. In terms of demographic profile, the base ages and very young viewers are appearing in ever fewer numbers.
There is also a lack of continuity in recruitment programs. Sustained educational projects are scarce, and when there are, they suffer from budget inconsistencies or changes in management. This creates a medium-term problem: if succession isn’t fostered, the stalls will suffer in the futureAnd not just in opera; in zarzuela and orchestral concerts too, the image of advanced age is the norm.
The temptation is to think of immediate impact campaigns—and there are some—but without a ten or fifteen year strategy It is difficult to reverse dynamics. Any theatre that enjoys sustained success today usually demonstrates a consistent public policy which started long before.
Technology, scarce divas and half-baked solutions
The digital ecosystem has changed the game. For some, Streaming is a lifeline; for others, a factor that erodes physical attendance. It increases the global dissemination of productions, yes, but a substantial part of consumption is free and does not convert into proportional box office or subscription revenue.
The shortage of big stars available further complicates the picture. The most popular divas are scarce, and those who lead the market sometimes prefer macro-concerts or more profitable specific formats than committing to long series of functionsWhen there are limits on caches, some theaters make up for the difference by adding recitals or concerts to the artist’s own agenda, a compromise that helps but does not resolve the root of the problem.
To attract new audiences, many coliseums rehearse contemporary commissionsThe balance, however, is uneven: a good part of the recent works are premiered and remain in the archive, without agile rotation through cities and countriesIn Spain, for example, we remember the commitment to titles such as The public by Mauricio Sotelo (2015), brave and important, but representative of the difficulty of traveling quickly on the international circuit.
The other way is to offer classic repertoire with new packaging. Here the cross shot enters the regietheater and certain stage directors from other disciplines, who are reproached for a poor musical sensitivity or the imposition of concepts that ignore the score and the voice. The controversy is old, but it is fueled when the audience does not accompany or perceive distance between the stage proposal and the work.
Social media amplifies any friction. Sometimes, even embedded content is not even displayed to the reader for technical reasons of the browser or because the user navigates without JavaScript, which reminds us to what extent Cultural conversation depends on foreign platforms and its usage policies. A seemingly minor but significant detail: the digital experience increasingly determines the relationship with the public.
Public, prices and the urgency to educate
There is an image that is repeated function after function: seats with a majority of mature audiences. It’s not new, but it’s worrying. Opera needs to appeal to young people and those who perceive it as something distant. Without systematic educational projects, demographic renewal is a bottleneck.
Meanwhile, cost inflation leads to constant price increasesThat sum—rising costs, flat public resources, high final price—bolts together the vicious circle: the audience is segmented by income and the discourse of social legitimacy becomes more complicated. Zarzuela and symphony concerts suffer similar symptoms, with subscribers who, literally, “measure” each step way to the amphitheater.
If the goal is to broaden the base, the equation includes more than just youthful arrivals or one-off campaigns. It’s about alliances with schools, universities and neighborhoods; of bringing creators into the classroom; of theaters explaining processes; of citizens seeing how an opera is put together from the inside. It’s expensive and doesn’t make headlines the next day, but it’s the only thing that works long term.
Italy: Turbulence at San Carlo and controversy at La Fenice
Italy, the homeland of opera, is not immune to the shocks. In Naples, the Teatro di San Carlo is experiencing friction management and politics. Stéphane Lissner’s departure ended in litigation, and his replacement by Emmanuela Spedaliere was even the subject of debate in Parliament. The San Carlo Foundation has had to give explanations recent controversial appointments.
One of the sources of controversy points to Michele Sorrentino Mangini, artistic director of the Officine San Carlo since 2023 and, at the same time, Spedaliere’s son. He was appointed by direct invitation on April 1, 2023, on a temporary basis, until December 31, 2025. With Lissner’s term about to end, the contract was extended until December 31, 2027., thus extending her stay for two and a half more years at the house where her mother has served as general manager since 2020.
In case there were missing chapters, the superintendency remains unclear. Fulvio Adamo Macciardi’s name was put forward for the position, after a complex back-and-forth between political bodies and challenges, but on the theater’s own website the “sovrintendente” box appears emptyThe climate, as we can see, is far from stable.
In Venice, the designation of Beatrice Venezi as musical director of La Fenice has unleashed another storm. The choir and orchestra have threatened to strike, believing the teacher lacks the required experience. The discussion has become loaded with political reading: He is linked to the Italian right and his status as an “influencer” with a notable presence on social media and his inclusion among Italian celebrities.
United States: The Crossroads of the New York MET
Anyone who visits Lincoln Center and crosses the plaza in front of the Met perceives the brilliance of a great cultural machinery. Billboards with several different titles in just three days, the neighboring New York City Ballet, the Juilliard… an ecosystem that few theaters can match. Through the immense glass front, the two murals by Marc Chagall which have been pawned to alleviate financial stress; a perfect symbol of power punctuated by need.
The crisis is not temporary. Some historical sponsors have withdrawn and new ones—like Spring Point Partners, with a $150.000 donation—aren’t enough to change the picture. The Met closed last season with a considerable deficit And its CEO, Peter Gelb, has put numbers to one part of the dilemma: the public has consumed via streaming the equivalent of more than one hundred million dollars in minutes without direct economic return. Visibility is gained, yes, but attendance in the room suffers, and the feeling that Some recent productions are less popular than previous ones doesn’t help.
To avoid further damage, management has reached an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Music Commission and the future Royal Diriyah Opera House. Starting in 2028, for five years, the Met will move to Riyadh every February. for a three-week residency with repertoire titles, concerts, and training programs for local artists and technicians. The pact also includes the commissioning of a new opera., a bet on visibility and fresh money.
The operation has its drawbacks. Moody’s has downgraded the Met’s non-investment grade rating due to structural imbalances and lower liquidity. Although the exact terms have not been made public, the The New York Times has estimated the deal at around $200 million., amount that the Wall Street Journal considers it insufficient to clean up the accounts. At the same time, the fifteen unions representing nearly three thousand employees warn: explore the Saudi route if necessary, but do not touch the working conditions.
In the background, the Gulf country deploys its strategy Vision 2030 to diversify the economy and project itself as a hub for art and entertainment. In recent years it has presented its first national opera, Zarqa al-Yamama, and builds the new Diriyah Opera House. The Met’s decision, however, raises criticism for whitening from a regime marked by restrictions on civil liberties and repression. The European mirror appears with La Scala, which in 2019 reversed the entry of Saudi capital, officially due to an irregular procedure, in a climate marked by the Khashoggi case.
The tension of coherence also appears: the Met has promoted policies of Diversity and inclusion—released, for example, Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard in 2021/22, the first opera by an African-American composer in its history, and hired a diversity officer. In light of that path, his landing in a country with opposite rules sparks suspicions within and outside the artistic community. The ethical and financial dilemma is served.
Old repertoire, new packaging: how far does it work?
The most widespread formula for maintaining box office sales is clear: popular repertoire with “renewed” staging. It works to a certain extent. On the one hand, it avoids programming risk; on the other, if the packaging is perceived as oblivious to the music and the voice, provokes rejection. The debate worsens when There is a lack of “homegrown” lyrical authors comparable to Verdi, Rossini or Wagner, concentrating on the voice; today it is symphonic composers who sporadically cross over to musical theatre, with mixed results and a renewed attention to the baroque repertoire.
The circulation of contemporary titles is another issue. They are released and archived too quickly. Few recent works jump fluidly between cities and countries in the short term, and so the possibility of create live repertoireWithout that mobility, the game is almost always played on the classic terrain.
In parallel, the dilemma of “event” versus “process” remains. Theaters show high-impact premieres, but building new audiences requires a marathon, not a sprint. The mirage appears when Big headlines hide structural weaknesses—financing, audience development, pricing policies—which cannot be solved with a couple of star productions per season.
What does the audience that is already inside tell us?
Although we often talk about “capturing new customers,” listening to our loyal audiences is revealing. Many veteran subscribers complain about the aesthetic drift of certain productions; others celebrate the daring. The important thing is that the theaters measure with rigor These perceptions—surveys, focus groups, analysis of occupation by function and distribution—so as not to decide blindly.
It is also worth looking at the elasticity of demand. How much price increase can a stall allow without emptying? What happens when you reduce by 10% and compensate in volume? There are companies that experiment. dynamic pricing and segmentations by hour or day of the week; these aggregate micro-decisions are just as influential as a large sponsorship.
On the digital frontier, the key is to turn awareness into recurring incomeStreaming brings opera to global audiences, but if the model is mostly free, the theater assumes a cost that is not recouped. Experiments such as micropayments per scene, temporary passes or memberships with tangible benefits These are paths to be explored with more ambition.
Finally, cooperation between theaters can be a lever for efficiency. Co-produce, share workshops and tour productions It reduces fixed costs and brings more life to each production. In a world of limited resources, solitude is expensive; the network, a necessity.
Spain, with its operatic “fever” and high prices; Italy caught between politics and merit; and the MET gasping for air in Saudi Arabia: the mirage isn’t in the love for opera or its capacity to move, which remain intact. The deceptive illusion appears when we confuse brilliance with solvency: Dazzling programming can coexist with deficit accounts, aging audiences, and controversies that distract from the essentials. The genre will thrive if the real costs of producing it are assumed. audiences are cultivated with patience, the music is respected as much as the scene, and funding decisions are made that don’t compromise long-term artistic integrity. That’s the difference between an oasis and a mirage.
