{"id":3298,"date":"2009-10-28T22:48:05","date_gmt":"2009-10-29T05:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=3298"},"modified":"2013-02-07T19:59:46","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T03:59:46","slug":"opera-vs-symphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/28\/opera-vs-symphony\/","title":{"rendered":"opera vs. symphony"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Bergman over at the Minnesota Orchestra has a great post<\/a> about the apparent double standard between opera companies and symphony orchestras.\u00a0 In brief: orchestras are constantly being berated for having structural deficits and are forced to produce more and more for-profit-like business models, while opera companies lose tremendous amounts of money on high-tech experiments and new opera commissions that run once and are never seen or heard again.<\/p>\n

But from a fiscal perspective, it’s been written that the Met is actually losing untold millions<\/a> on these simulcasts, and doesn’t really have a plan for making them financially sustainable in the future. Now, imagine that this were a symphony orchestra doing this – beaming their concerts all over creation and charging $25 a head for people packed into a theater in Las Vegas or Paris to watch us play. Then imagine that the New York Times <\/span>found out that said orchestra was going to run a multi-million dollar deficit this season because of the cost of production. Can you imagine what the reaction would be?<\/p>\n

I can. The orchestra would be roundly blasted by everyone from critics to consultants to its own board members for behaving as if money grows on trees, the simulcasts would most certainly be canceled immediately, a feeble plea for funding to save them would go out to the usual corporations and foundations, and in all likelihood, would fall on deaf ears because there’s a massive recession going on, donchaknow. And I can’t really say that this wouldn’t be a defensible reaction from all involved.<\/p>\n

But because we’re talking about the opera world, none of this seems to happen. Opera (at least grand opera presented by large companies) seems to get a near-total pass from the folks who are constantly harping on orchestras for being clueless, elitist organizations who pay their musicians and conductors too much and can’t seem to make a budget sheet balance. Maybe it’s that our vision of opera is so bound up with images of opulence and wretched excess that it somehow seems okay for opera companies to shoot for the stars even when it’s dangerous from a bottom-line perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sam Bergman over at the Minnesota Orchestra has a great post about the apparent double standard between opera companies and symphony orchestras.\u00a0 In brief: orchestras are constantly being berated for having structural deficits and are forced to produce more and more for-profit-like business models, while opera companies lose tremendous amounts of money on high-tech experiments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[115,283,2],"tags":[407,54,406,62],"class_list":["post-3298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-opera-music","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-minnesota-orchestra","tag-opera","tag-sam-bergman","tag-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-Rc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":866,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/03\/20\/communities-boards-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":3298,"position":0},"title":"communities, boards, and orchestras","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As I write this, there are two orchestras in the U.S. which are currently facing an existential crisis. The Columbus Symphony and the Shreveport Symphony are both facing cuts which will forever alter how they function, sound, raise money, and basically exist. Over the past week, two fellow violists\/bloggers have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1453,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/19\/worlds-top-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":3298,"position":1},"title":"world’s top orchestras?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know how one could actually come up with a list like this and keep a straight face, but I guess it's akin to the coaches\/journalists polls that determine college football\/basketball rankings.\u00c2\u00a0 At least orchestras don't have to navigate the inanities of the BCS system... UPDATE: Robert Levine skewers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1005,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/06\/06\/new-faces-at-the-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":3298,"position":2},"title":"new faces at the oregon symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Four new musicians will be joining the Oregon Symphony next season - here's the rundown on each of them (courtesy of the Oregon Symphony's Carl Herko): Mark J. Dubac, second clarinet - Dubac has been principal clarinetist with the Green Bay Symphony in Wisconsin for the past two seasons and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "auditions"","block_context":{"text":"auditions","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/auditions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2089,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/09\/the-littered-landscape\/","url_meta":{"origin":3298,"position":3},"title":"the littered landscape","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"After a bit of blow back from my response to David Stabler's blog post about some restrictions on use of audio\/video clips of union musicians for a feature article of Tomas Svoboda's world premiere this week, I decided to follow some well-intended advice from one of my colleagues and get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "audio"","block_context":{"text":"audio","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":401,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/07\/27\/leadership-transitions-in-seattle\/","url_meta":{"origin":3298,"position":4},"title":"leadership transitions in seattle","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"David Brewster writes about the recent transitions of leadership at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, and wonders about the future for the Seattle Opera and the Seattle Symphony, who both have long-term leaders who have contracts that go until around 2011 or so.\u00c2\u00a0 It's an interesting situation, and especially for symphony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13976,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/01\/17\/2016-2017-season-announcements\/","url_meta":{"origin":3298,"position":5},"title":"2016-2017 season announcements","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Page Moved: subsequent updates will be made at this location. It's that time of year, when orchestras around the country start trotting out their programs for the next season, hoping to get a good start on ticket sales and advance buzz. I'm going to link to the announcements here, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}