New York’s Metropolitan Opera has announced a round of layoffs, pay cuts and program reductions as it grapples with financial strain.
The organization cited problems left over from the Covid pandemic, which drastically affected performing arts shows across the US and internationally.
The cuts include salary reductions of between 4% and 15% for 35 executives earning more than $150,000, including the Met Opera’s general manager Peter Gelb, who earned approximately $1.4m in 2024, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Other senior figures affected include music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin who earned $2.05m in the most recently disclosed fiscal year.
The measures also include 22 layoffs among the company’s 284 administrative staff and further reductions in programming. Next season will be cut from 18 productions to 17, with the Met postponing a planned staging of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, a 19th-century Russian opera.
A spokesperson for the Met Opera confirmed the cuts to the Guardian, saying: “These staff reductions, combined with some temporary salary reductions and other cost-cutting measures, will reduce the Met’s expenses by $15m for the remaining six months of the Met’s fiscal year, and by another $25m in the Met’s following fiscal year.”
The measures follow a tentative agreement struck last September between the Met Opera and Saudi Arabia. Valued at about $200m, the deal would see the company – which has an annual operating budget of $330m – perform each winter for five years at the Royal Diriyah Opera House near Riyadh, in return for Saudi subsidies.
Speaking to the New York Times, Gelb said the cuts were prompted in part by delays and uncertainty surrounding the Saudi agreement.
“I’ve been assured that it’s going to go forward. But we have been waiting for some time,” he said.
The Met Opera spokesperson said: “The cuts are necessary while the Met awaits its pending agreement with Saudi Arabia and the implementation of other revenue-generating initiatives. The Met is committed to maintaining the highest artistic standards while ensuring its present and future financial sustainability.”
Other measures floated by Gelb include the possible sale of its theater’s naming rights, as well as a potential sale of its two Marc Chagall murals, valued at a combined $55m, though any sale would require the works to remain in place at the organization’s city venue.
Gelb also said the opera company may look towards renting out its auditorium to pop artists on nights when it is not running its own programs.
