Indianapolis Opera Cancels Final Production of the Season; Opera World Continues to Suffer Economic Woes

The Indianapolis Opera has cancelled the final opera of the season.

The company announced the news and said it was cancelling Benjamin Britten's "Albert Herring" because of financial strains. The opera would have been the final show of the 2013-14 season.

The financial concerns had already been cited for a number of months since Charles Stanton, a former opera vocalist and workshop facilitator at the National Association of Teachers of Singing, made note of the opera's financial issues while he served as vice president of the Arts Council of Indianapolis. He noted that there were poor artistic decisions by the organization and a lack of innovation.

He said, "I look at the opera and I think, 'Gosh, you guys are operating on this antiquated business model that says opera has to be expensive. It doesn't. There are companies nationwide that have figured out how to operate on a lean budget, but with high-quality productions."

Stanton also stated that staging expensive productions and obscure shows such as "Albert Herring" and "Amahl and the Night Visitors" was an big concern that was hurting the company immensely. However the Indianapolis Opera General Manager Carol Baker and board members declined comment.

The company will contact all ticket holders for "Albert Herring"  with options for exchanges or refunds. However the company is still planning on announcing the 2014-15 season.

While Indianapolis is not the largest opera company in the world, it economic crisis is a sign of how most companies are currently.

Last week the San Diego Opera announced that the 2014 season would be its last. The reason for the closure was because the demand for opera in San Diego wasn't high enough and that a tough fund-raising environment and weak ticket sales hurt the company.

Last year the New York City Opera filed for bankruptcy after poor management and were forced to cancel the 2013-14 season. They held their last show in October.

The Metropolitan Opera was also among the companies who suffered through the operatic economic crisis. The company, which one of the most important in the world, reported that it had suffered major losses in the 2012-13 season.

General manager Dominique Meyer of the Vienna State Opera also noted that the company was on the brink of a financial crisis and that he was being forced to raise ticket prices even though they were high enough. The news also despite the record audience members the company has received throughout the past years.  

The opera world is in a state of crisis at the moment with aging audience members and theaters attempting to rejuvenate its audiences. Theaters have implemented new ways to get opera across such as livestreams on computers and Live in movie theaters. However with the increase in ticket prices and the art form being viewed as too sophisticated and high art, North American company's are finding it harder to get people into the theater and experience opera live.

The question that most companies will eventually have to face is whether to cut ticket prices or reduce the number of shows done in a year. For smaller companies it will be a harder decision as they only present a maximum of ten works a year. For these companies they may have to relegate themselves to presenting the standard works and experiment less.

For bigger companies like the Met, that will mean cutting its season but also suffering from rent issues. It could also mean bringing lesser-known talent to cut costs. However that could dissuade operagoers.

The issue is at the forefront and it is one the opera world will have to deal with until companies find a solution that will allow the art form to sustain itself as it has been doing up to now or that will mean drastic changes.