ABSTRACT
The nature of the musical corporations themselves has not been studied systematically. There are histories of major orchestras and of the Metropolitan Opera, but they are concerned chiefly with record of performances, conductors, financial crises, audience growth, and shifts in artistic direction. By musical corporations the author mean entities that collect and pay out money, hire and fire employees, make contracts, own or rent real estate, and maintain a continuous institutional identity, all in direct connection with the performance of music before the public. The Metropolitan Opera's financial embarrassment in the last few years has been well publicized, and at the time of this writing the Teatro alla Scala in Milan has declared its inability to fulfill its Bicentennial engagements in America because of the devaluation of Italian currency. To a great extent, therefore, public and quasi-public subsidy has consumed itself in increased administrative and labor costs, and the musical corporations have had to redouble their campaigns for philanthropic support.
