The Story of Opera

Appendix B

Financial Aid Granted to Operatic Schemes
from State or Municipal Funds.

(Drawn from the Government return made in pursuance
of the Address of the House of Commons of
March 2nd, 1903.)

Country.	Town.	Amount.	Comments.
Argentine	Buenos Ayres	Nil.	Municipal taxation exempted to
Republic			performing Companies at the Opera.
Austria and	Vienna	Free Theatre given:
Hungary		deficit made good from	Opera House cost £509,795 to build.
		the Emperor’s Civil list.
	Buda-Pesth	£24,208 and £250 for	An additional grant from the
		salaries.	Sovereign of £13,334.
	Prague	£3,750.	(For the Czech Theatre for 1903).
Bavaria	Munich	Municipality keeps up the	A sum of £12,500 goes to the
		Court Theatre.	general upkeep of the Court
		Prince Regent Theatre	Theatre and Residency in Munich
		(New Opera House) free	from the Royal Civil list.
		electric lighting up to £1,125.
	Würtemberg	Deficit, averaging £15,000,	House used for dramatic as well
		made good by the King of	as operatic purposes.
		Würtemberg.
Belgium			Subsidies granted to composers of
			from 500 to 1,500 francs per act
			on approved operas; also of from
			60 to 250 francs per performance.
	Brussels	Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie,	Rent free, but many conditions
		£5,600.	imposed.
	Antwerp	Subsidy varied according to
		requirements.
Bulgaria		Nil.
Central	San José	1897, French Opera, £4,000.
America—		1898, Italian Opera, £1,200.
Costa Rica		1899, Nil.
		1900, Italian Opera, £920.
		1901-2, Nil.
Guatemala	Guatemala	A varying amount.
Salvador	San Salvador	Amounts varying from £277
		to £6,068 for various kinds	Free use of the National Theatre.
		of opera during the last
		12 years.
Chili	Santiago	An amount, about £5,000,	Rent free: the same company apparently
		“if the municipality is	visits Chili annually from Europe.
		satisfied with the
		performances.”
Denmark	Copenhagen	Deficit on Royal paid from
		State Theatre accounts.
Egypt	Cairo and	£E5,000 for 36 operas and
	Alexandria	24 comedies.
		£E4,000 for the Cairo Opera
		House and another theatre
		for upkeep.
France	Paris	Opera, £32,000.	Rent free.
		Opera Comique, £12,000.
Germany	Berlin	£54,000 from the Crown for	State contributes to the upkeep
		the Opera House and the	and repairs.
		Play House.
Great Britain		Nil.
Greece		Nil.	Small amounts occasionally granted from
			Municipal Funds in various towns.
Italy	Rome	Nil.	£2,400, withdrawn in 1898.
	Milan	La Scala receives £3,900 for
		50 performances.
	Turin	Municipal Orchestra lent for	Previous subsidy withdrawn.
		operatic purposes.
	Naples	£3,200 for the San Carlo
		House.
	Venice	Varying amounts on special
		occasions.
Norway	Christiania	About £1,100 granted per
		annum to the National Theatre
		(not exclusively for opera).
Peru	Lima	Occasional grants to travelling
		companies for opera.
Portugal	Lisbon	San Carlos Opera House
		rent free.
Russia	Petersburg	Details unavailable.
	and	In 1902 the sum of about
	Moscow	£300,000 was granted by
		the Emperor to the three
		Imperial Theatres in
		these cities.
	Warsaw	Nil.	Former subsidy withdrawn.
	Riga	Nil.	Managed by a “Guild.”
	Odessa	Opera House maintained
		by Municipality.
Saxony	Coburg and	£3,778 to the Ducal Court	Rent free.
	Gotha	Theatre.
	Dresden	£31,000 paid by the King,
		and any deficit made good
		(£15,000 in 1903).
		Many other towns grant free
		use of the theatre, and
		sometimes of the Municipal
		orchestra, the scenery,
		dresses, etc.
Servia	Belgrade	Royal National Theatre	Used for opera and drama.
		receives £1,720 per annum.
Spain		Nil: various “schools of music” and
		orchestras receive Municipal aid.
Sweden	Stockholm	Royal Theatre (mainly opera)
		receives £3,330 from the Crown,
		and £3,330 from the State; also
		various other amounts.
Switzerland	Berne	£280 to the theatre orchestra.
	Basle	£1,000 for musical institutions
		and the theatre orchestra.
	Geneva	£6,480 for the theatre and
		classical concerts.
United States		Nil.
Uruquay	Montevideo	A subsidy given to an annual
		performance of Italian Opera.
Venezuela		Nil.

Note.—As a grant, when made, is often given both for the drama and for operatic purposes, and sometimes for the support of musical functions generally, such as concerts and band performances, it is difficult to arrive at the actual figures for opera alone. But the above quotations will afford a general idea as to the conditions obtaining with regard to subsidies in the various countries to which reference is made.