Cincinnati Opera posts a surplus for 2014 season

Cincinnati Opera's 94th season, which ended July 26, will post a surplus for the 26th time out of the past 27 years, the company says. With ticket revenue at $1.435 million, Cincinnati Opera expects to be in the black again this year, three years after posting a deficit of $300,000.

There were three sellouts in the summer festival, which presented two operatic chestnuts and two company premieres. In the second year of its new "opera campus," Cincinnati Opera mounted a rarely performed Baroque opera, "La Calisto," in Corbett Theater in the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Two of the five performances in the 760-seat theater were sold out.

Three grand operas were staged in the 3,417-seat Music Hall: "Carmen," "Silent Night" and "Madame Butterfly." The final performance of "Butterfly" on July 26 also was sold out.

Visitors came to see opera in Cincinnati from 44 states and six countries. Still, attendance and ticket revenue goals slightly missed the mark this year, partly because the opening production of "Carmen" didn't fill enough seats for its four performances. Opening with four performances of an opera, even a traditional favorite such as "Carmen," turned out to be risky, said Patricia Beggs, general director and CEO.

"We exceeded ticket goals for three of our operas, and we finished on a very strong note this year with a modest surplus," said Beggs. "Opening with four performances of an opera – we knew it was somewhat of a risk (because) the momentum builds as we go through the summer. So it was a noble experiment, and I think we learned something from it."

The company also took a risk to present two audience "unknowns" in its season of four productions. Putting on a new opera by American composer Kevin Puts, "Silent Night," in a very large hall might have daunted another opera company. The opera told the true story of the Christmas truce of 1914, when World War I soldiers came out of their trenches on the Western Front to celebrate Christmas Eve together in no-man's land. It was a deeply moving and beautiful production, and its effect lingered long afterward.

Its best-attended night – 2,634 attendees on July 12 – attracted more people than any performance of "Carmen." The opera was one of the events of "Cincinnati Remembers World War I," a campaign of 28 citywide events that launched on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2013.

Last year, Cincinnati Opera reached out of its "comfort zone" of presenting four grand operas in Music Hall. The small theater at SCPA has become a regular venue for smaller productions, and Cincinnati Opera also performs a free concert in Washington Park.

Branching out to alternative or smaller venues is a national trend among opera companies that have seen attendance fall about 20 percent over the past two decades. Marc Scorca, president and CEO of the service organization Opera America, said that the decline has motivated opera companies to think creatively about how to reach new audiences.

This year's "La Calisto," performed at SCPA with an ensemble of early instruments assembled by Catacoustic Consort, was stunning. And opera industry executives were in the audience, taking notes to bring back to their companies, Beggs said.

Cincinnati Opera's Washington Park concert drew an estimated 4,000 people to hear the program of opera arias, ensembles and Broadway tunes.

The opera had a capacity crowd for its free "Back to the Zoo concert in May. It also expanded its "Opera Goes to Church" and "Opera Goes to Temple" performances, from two last summer to four free performances in four venues this year. ¦

By the numbers: Cincinnati Opera's 2014 season

22,437: Total number of opera-goers between the two venues

8,632: Saw four performances of Bizet's "Carmen"

5,696: Saw two performances of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly"

4,824: Saw two performances of "Silent Night," an opera about World War I

3,285: Flocked to the School for Creative and Performing Arts for five performances of "La Calisto."

1,267: Student tickets sold

1,700: Attended the 24th annual Community Open Dress Rehearsal of "Silent Night" on July 8

3,110: Largest attendance, for final performance of "Madame Butterfly" July 26

$1.435 million: Ticket revenue