Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 56

However, as much as the company desired to aid in the situation surrounding
9/11, the tragedy brought monetary difficulties upon the Met that hadn’t been faced in
years. The company was forced to advertise on television—something it had never
done—as it struggled terribly to sell tickets and fund its season (Fielder, 2003).
However, the last few years have brought about some financial alleviation with the great
success of the Live in HD series and current general manager, Peter Gelb’s decision to
partner with Sirius XM radio to provide radio broadcasting (Metropolitan Opera). In
recent years, Levine has stepped down to solely Music Director at the Met, however,
this hasn’t brought about much trouble for the company as a whole with Gelb’s
ambitious agenda for the company. With an organization that has existed for nearly 150
years, it is very difficult to believe that the Met will ever need to close up shop. As
Fielder writes:
“The Met has survived fires, bombings, two world wars, the Great Depression.
and a number of recessions… The difficulties of the present era are just part of
the cycle of triumphs and tragedies that has repeated and will repeat again and
again in the long history of the Metropolitan Opera.” (Fielder, 2003)
It is clear that New York is able to boast a great deal of operatic achievement in
what seems to be only a little under 250 years. Though neither institution included in
this paper had the royal backing of many European opera houses and companies, each
has managed to produce a myriad of substantial work and contributions to the operatic
community. Both NYCO and the Met have served to debut some of the world’s greatest
operas—serving to further the American stamp on a largely European art. In regards to
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