Met Opera's 2026-27 season has 17 productions, its fewest in at least 60 years
#Metropolitan Opera #2026-27 season #budget cuts #Peter Gelb #ticket sales #Lincoln Center #opera productions #financial constraints
📌 Key Takeaways
- Met Opera's 2026-27 season reduced to 17 productions, the fewest in at least 60 years
- Ticket sales improved to 72% (up from 70%), but budget constraints still force cutbacks
- Three popular operas will account for 38% of all performances as part of economic strategy
- Budget tightening has resulted in layoffs and salary cuts, with a production postponed
📖 Full Retelling
The financially strapped Metropolitan Opera in New York announced on Thursday, February 19, 2026, that it will scale back its 2026-27 season to just 17 productions, its fewest in at least 60 years, despite improved ticket sales, due to ongoing budget constraints. The Met's decision comes as ticket sales have actually improved to 72% for the current season, up from 70% in the first half of 2024-25. 'Basically, it's back to pre-pandemic levels,' said Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, though he noted that the average ticket price is slightly less than before due to a younger audience and more discounted tickets. To maximize efficiency during this financially challenging period, the company will present just five new stagings, with three popular operas—Puccini's 'Tosca' and 'La Bohème,' and Verdi's 'Aida'—accounting for 71 of the 187 individual performances (38%). Gelb explained that presenting these works in extended runs and double-casting them is 'more economic in terms of how many different shows are playing in one week.'
Next season will open on September 22, 2026, with a new production of Verdi's 'Macbeth' starring soprano Lise Davidsen and directed by Louisa Proske. Among the highlights will be the world premiere of composer Missy Mazzoli's 'Lincoln in the Bardo' on October 19, based on George Saunders' novel and starring Christine Goerke, Stephanie Blythe, Anthony Roth Costanzo and Peter Mattei in a staging directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. The season will also feature three new-to-the Met productions: Janáček's 'Jenůfa' starring Asmik Grigorian (November 16), Puccini's 'La Fanciulla del West' with Sondra Radvanovsky and SeokJong Baek (December 31), and the company premiere of Kevin Puts' 'Silent Night' featuring Elza van den Heever and Rolando Villazon (March 8, 2027). A gala with more than two dozen stars is scheduled for May 25, 2027, to mark the company's 60th season at Lincoln Center.
The budget tightening has already resulted in 22 layoffs and 4-15% temporary salary cuts, and a Simon McBurney staging of Mussorgsky's 'Khovanshchina' was postponed. Gelb, who is entering his 20th season as general manager and plans to retire when his current contract expires in 2030, acknowledged the dual challenges: 'Unfortunately, I have to wear two hats. I have to wear my artistic hat, and I have to wear my financial hat.' The Met also decided not to include eight simulcasts in movie theaters due to a post-pandemic drop in audience, with Gelb explaining that unknown titles 'will underperform to a degree where it is not really financially viable for the movie theaters or for us.'
🏷️ Themes
Financial challenges, Artistic programming, Audience engagement
📚 Related People & Topics
Peter Gelb
American arts administrator (born 1953)
Peter Gelb (born 1953) is an American arts administrator. Since August 2006, he has been General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Metropolitan Opera
Opera company in New York City
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred to colloquially as the Met, the company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Associatio...
Lincoln Center
Performing arts venue in New York City
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a 16.3-acre (6.6-hectare) complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to five million visitors annually. It houses ...
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Original Source
Met Opera's 2026-27 season has 17 productions, its fewest in at least 60 years The Metropolitan Opera cut back its 2026-27 season due to a tight budget, even as ticket sales improved slightly By RONALD BLUM Associated Press February 19, 2026, 12:01 PM NEW YORK -- Despite encouraging box office figures for the season's first half, the financially strapped Metropolitan Opera scaled back its 2026-27 schedule with its fewest productions in at least 60 years. The Met announced Thursday it will present 17 productions, its lowest total in a non-truncated season since the company moved to Lincoln Center in 1966. There are just five new stagings, and revivals of three popular operas account for 71 of the 187 individual opera performances (38%): Puccini’s “Tosca” and “La Bohème,” and Verdi’s “Aida.” “It makes more sense for us, and this is an experiment — to present these works in extended runs,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “And by double-casting them, it also is more economic in terms of how many different shows are playing in one week.” Ticket sales of 72% this season are up from 70% in the first half of 2024-25. “Basically, it’s back to pre-pandemic levels ,” Gelb said. “We’re not grossing as much money because the average price per ticket is slightly less than it was, because we have a younger audience and more discounted tickets.” Mason Bates’ “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” which opened the current season in its world premiere, sold 84% of tickets in a success rate that prompted the Met to schedule an extra four performances this month. “One of my goals at the Met is to stimulate new audiences with new works,” Gelb said. “This one was one of the most successful we’ve presented so far.” “Kavalier” was followed by an English-language holiday time staging of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (83%), Bellini’s “I Puritani" (82%), Puccini’s “Turandot” (77%), Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” (74%), “The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess” (73%), and Donizetti’s “La Fille du ...
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