The more obvious story, and therefore the easier sell

Musical America has a great article about how successful the Metropolitan Opera’s season has been with new general manager Peter Gelb exploring 1,001 media opportunities. For example:

“He also reported that Saturday’s simulcast of “Eugene Onegin,” into 239 movie theaters around the world, had reached an audience of over 50,000 and climbed to No. 8 on Canada’s list of the weekend’s Top 10 highest grossing films.”

That’s pretty amazing stuff. He also states that 61 performances have sold out, as opposed to last season’s 20. I just renewed my subscription for the Lyric Opera here in Chicago, which also doesn’t seem to have many problems filling its enormous house.

Why do Opera companies not seem to have many problems filling their houses? Orchestras have certainly more trouble filling their houses. Is it just a case of supply and demand? The supply of operatic performances is less than the supply of symphonic performances. There are over 50% more performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall than Lyric Opera performances in the Civic Opera House. However, Orchestra Hall has fewer seats, roughly 2,500 versus the Civic Opera House’s 3,600. If all performances would sell out, the Lyric would see approximately 284,500 patrons and the CSO would see 312,500 patrons; still more tickets to sell, but the gap is relatively narrower.

Is opera that much more accessible than symphonic music? Monetary speaking, I don’t think so. But artistically speaking, probably. Maybe most importantly, it’s less abstract: along with the visuals and theatricals, the spoken language, or supertitles, narrate a story. The story is not hidden for people who do not speak the musical language, which is the case in symphonic music. My favorite, the Beyond the Score concerts, illuminate the story and thus make symphony concerts more accessible, but generally speaking, how many people in an audience would know the story?

I am not suggesting that we should change the format of all symphony concerts. I am assuming that long term subscribers enjoy the regular concerts because they know the story, or even have created their own. I really just want to reiterate that stories make the world go round. Presidents get elected with stories, products get sold with stories, and art, above all, is storytelling. Opera has the more obvious story and therefore is the easier sell.

Update: of course I didn’t keep in mind that the Lyric has less extensive subscription options. Many subscription options include the entire season (since there are only a handful productions). The CSO, on the other hand, has many, many different subscription packages; even the most comprehensive package does not nearly cover all the different concert programs. Understandably, the Civic Opera House will therefore be sold out much quicker.