Opera for the people: The metropolitan opera goes on the air

Abstract

This paper covers the prehistory of the Texaco‐Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts, from the opera experiments of the late 19th century until Texaco's sponsorship in 1941. The central questions of this work are how did the broadcasts first get on the air, and why have they continued on the air, in spite of economic adversity faced by the Met and by the broadcasts. The analysis is an integrated approach, making use of individualistic, instrumentalist, and institutionist evaluations, which, when layered together, reveal that the nature of the audience was a major factor in the broadcasts’ endurance.