The Met’s endowment is now valued at $216 million, down from $340 million in 2022.
Gelb stated that he didn’t intend to cancel any extra productions, however that he couldn’t rule out any choices given the Met’s precarious monetary state of affairs. It would stage 17 operas subsequent yr, down from 25 a number of years in the past.
Earlier than the pandemic, the Met’s earned revenues — cash from ticket gross sales and its dwell HD transmissions to cinemas throughout the nation — had coated 50 p.c of its annual funds. The opposite half, about $150 million, got here from contributions.
When the Met reopened after the pandemic, the drop in ticket gross sales — on the opera home and, extra dramatically, at film theaters — meant that revenues accounted for less than one-third of the working funds, or about $50 million much less. That elevated the amount of cash that wanted to come back from contributions and was one motive the take care of the Saudis was so important.
The Met has a $62 million line of credit score that’s due in February 2027. And in March, Moody’s downgraded the opera’s credit standing, which is beneath funding grade, for the third time within the span of a yr.
This newest spherical of economic disruptions comes at what has been, in some methods, a powerful yr for the Met. Two productions — “Tristan und Isolde” and “The Wonderful Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” — bought so many tickets that additional performances had been added. “Innocence,” which is presently onstage, received strong reviews from critics.
“The irony is we’re experiencing a few of our best inventive successes at a time when the economics are proving so troublesome,” Gelb stated.
“Opera when it really works, when it’s firing on all cylinders, is among the most extraordinary experiences,” he stated. “However it’s the most costly.”
