Mad Scenes and Exit Arias

From the Wall Street Journal’s opera critic, a history of how and why the New York City Opera went bankrupt—and what it means for the future of the arts.

In October 2013, the arts world was rocked by the news that the New York City Opera—“the people’s opera”—had finally succumbed to financial hardship after 70 years in operation. The company had been a fixture on the national opera scene—as the pop...