Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 43

production in English every season.” (New York Times, 2001). Functionally, this is vital
when attempting to expose audiences to opera while still providing performances that
serve as accurate and excellent representations of a composers vision for their work.
Additionally, Halasz placed a premium on providing young singers opportunities
to showcase their abilities—particularly young American vocalists (New York Times,
2001). This was a wise decision from both a business and talent perspective. The city
opera simply couldn’t compete with the monetary backing that the Met had to bring in
renowned vocalists from all over the world, so they instead invested in talented
American singers—likely hoping for loyalty to the company in return (New York Times).
As beneficial for both sides as this may seem, the monetary gains and exposure the
Met could provide exceptional young vocalists was simply too much for NYCO in some
cases. According to the New York Times, the city opera lost three singers from its
inaugural season to the Met (New York Times, 2001). Furthermore, perhaps unlike the
Met, Halasz firmly believed in performing the standard repertoire while also giving new
work an opportunity to be showcased (New York Times, 2001). This provided a great
deal of diversity within a given season and more than likely served to differentiate and
lure audiences and vocalists alike away from the Met and to the City Opera instead
(New York Times, 2001). Though Halasz’s contributions and creative vision to the city
Opera likely allowed the company to progress substantially and provide an agenda for
the future, his termination in 1951 began what would be a tumultuous pattern of
dissonance in the creative vision of NYCO for years to come (New York Times, 2001).
After a very successful first season, the Met was plagued by a fire that ceased
operations for a year (Fielder, 2003). To get the company back on its feet, the board
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