Extortion?

I rarely talk about topics that are related to me job here, but this discussion on Opera-L caught my eye.

In the best of all possible works, opera would be self-sustaining and the price you pay for your tickets would cover the cost of what is going on onstage and no additional subsidy would be necessary. Unfortunately that is not, nor ever has been the case. In the U.S. the arts depend on private support, through corporations, foundations, or individuals to help cover the costs over and above the revenue that ticket sales generate. In most opera companies that is around 65% of the actual cost of putting on a performance. If the ticket price truly reflected the cost to create opera (on almost every level) it would affordable only to the very rich.

To induce private donation, incentives are offered. Often it is passes to dress rehearsal, magazines, the ability to socialize with the artists, and things of that sort. But one of the things that an opera goer most values, is their seat.

So opera companies for years, have rewarded their best donors, with premium seats. Sometimes it was explicitly stated, sometimes just understood. For those companies who very clearly tie a seating assignment with a donation requirement, it is just economic reality. In other words, it makes a ticket affordable for everyone who can't afford to give that level of donation.

I wish it were not so, but that's the reality when you live in a free-market economy and makes opera available to more people.