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    Opera

    Seasons run fall to spring · upper-tier center seats often sound best

    The Met, the big regional companies and summer festivals. How opera seasons sell, how translations work and where the sound is best.

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    By the Good Seats editorial teamUpdated How we research

    How opera seasons work

    Opera in the United States is presented by resident companies that each run a season, usually from early fall into spring, with a handful of summer festivals filling the warm months. A company stages several productions a year, and the largest present them in rotating repertory (different operas on different nights of the same week), so one week can offer La Bohème on Tuesday and a new American opera on Wednesday.

    Because most of the standard repertory is sung in Italian, German, French or Russian, every major US house now provides translated text, either projected above the stage or on small screens at each seat. You do not need to know the language or the plot in advance.

    Opera's in-person audience is small and has shrunk. In the National Endowment for the Arts survey for the 12 months ending July 2022, 0.7 percent of US adults attended an opera, down from 2.2 percent in 2017 (NEA, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022). The survey period still carried pandemic effects. For ticket buyers, the practical result is that outside of opening nights, star-driven revivals and holiday programs, good seats are usually available.

    The Metropolitan Opera

    The Metropolitan Opera, founded in 1883, is the country's largest opera company. Its house at Lincoln Center opened on September 16, 1966, and seats 3,794, with 245 standing-room places. The Met's season typically runs from late September to early June, with around 18 operas a year and up to seven performances a week in rotating repertory. Since 2006, its Live in HD series has broadcast performances to cinemas, a useful way to sample a production before buying a seat in New York.

    The auditorium rises through six levels, named from the ground up: Orchestra, Parterre (a ring of boxes with a center section), Grand Tier, Dress Circle, Balcony and Family Circle. Each seat has a Met Titles screen, the seatback translation system that made the Met the first US house with individual titles; Wikipedia lists English, German and Spanish as the available languages. American Ballet Theatre takes over the house for its summer season, which is covered in the Ballet hub.

    The Met also runs lower-cost access programs. Its rush program, as described on the Met's site, sells a limited number of tickets online on a first-come basis on performance day, with an app lottery that opens two weeks ahead. For 2026–27, New York City announced Opera for All, a lottery for 70,000 free tickets for city residents who have not bought a Met ticket since 2019. Both programs change; check the Met's current rules.

    Regional companies and summer festivals

    Most large cities support a company with its own fall-to-spring season.

    • Lyric Opera of Chicago, founded in 1954, performs at the Civic Opera House, whose 3,276 seats make it the second-largest opera auditorium in North America. Its 2026/27 season opens with Don Giovanni (October 10 to November 1) and Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels's Omar (October 23 to 28), per the Lyric Opera of Chicago site.
    • San Francisco Opera, founded in 1923, plays the War Memorial Opera House, which opened in 1932. Its fall season traditionally opens the Friday after Labor Day and runs into November.
    • Houston Grand Opera, founded in 1955, performs at the Wortham Theater Center. It was one of the first US companies to use supertitles, in 1984, and is known for commissioning new works.
    • The Santa Fe Opera, founded in 1956, is the best-known summer festival. Its Crosby Theatre seats 2,128 plus 106 standees, has open sides, and times performances near sunset. The season runs from late June or early July to the third week of August, with five operas in rotating repertory.

    For Chicago's full event calendar, see the Chicago guide; for Lincoln Center and the rest of Manhattan, the New York City guide.

    Surtitles and seatback titles

    Surtitles are translations projected on a screen above the stage, where everyone sees the same text. The Canadian Opera Company introduced them in a January 1983 Elektra, and New York City Opera became the first American company to adopt them the same year. Seatback titles put a small screen in front of each seat, so you can switch them on, off or to another language without affecting your neighbors. The Met uses seatback titles, and the Santa Fe Opera installed its electronic libretto system in 1999, offering English or Spanish.

    Titles affect where you should sit:

    • Projected surtitles sit above the proscenium (the arch framing the stage). From the first rows of the orchestra you look sharply up to read them and then down to the stage, which gets tiring over a three-hour evening.
    • Side seats in a horseshoe house can lose part of a projected screen behind a box wall or the arch.
    • Seatback screens remove those problems, but the Met's Family Circle score desks (301 to 324) have no titles at all and a fully obstructed view.

    Where to sit for sound and sightlines

    Opera houses are built so unamplified voices reach every seat, and in many houses the upper tiers sound richer than the front orchestra because the sound rises and blends on its way up. At the Met, quiet passages carry to the top of the Family Circle, about 146 feet from the stage, and the house is the only Lincoln Center auditorium never rebuilt for acoustic problems.

    • Center orchestra, middle rows: the best balance of voice, orchestra and facial expression. The safe choice for a first opera.
    • Front orchestra rows: close, but you sit beside the pit, so the orchestra can dominate, and you look up at the singers and the surtitles.
    • Front of the center Grand Tier and Dress Circle (or the first balcony in other houses): a full view of the staging with excellent sound. Many regulars rate these the best seats in the house.
    • Upper center tiers: the value choice for listeners. Singers look small, so bring binoculars for a production you want to see in detail.
    • Side boxes: the Met's own seating notes list the rear of the Grand Tier side boxes and the side boxes on the Dress Circle and Balcony levels as partial view. Front-row box seats see far more than the chairs behind them.

    How opera tickets sell

    Companies sell subscriptions first, then single tickets, and resale fills in around both. Demand concentrates on opening nights and galas, new productions of the most popular titles (La Bohème, Carmen, La Traviata, The Magic Flute), performances with a star singer, and holiday-season family productions. Weeknight performances of less familiar works, and late-season dates of a long run, usually offer the widest choice. Casting changes are common in opera, so if you are buying to hear one singer, check the company's casting page close to the date. Every Good Seats order is backed by a 100% guarantee.

    Tips for your first opera

    • Check the running time. Many operas run around three hours with one or two intermissions; Wagner can run much longer.
    • Read the synopsis in the program or on the company's site before the curtain, even with titles.
    • Arrive on time. Many houses do not seat latecomers until an intermission, which can mean watching the first act on a lobby monitor. Check the venue's policy.
    • Dress as you like. Most performances have no dress code; opening nights and galas are the exception.
    • Pick a familiar title first. A popular Puccini or Verdi opera is an easier start than a rarely performed work.

    Opera houses share stages and audiences with symphonic music, and the Classical Music hub covers concert halls.

    Frequently asked questions

    Do I need to understand Italian or German to enjoy opera?

    No. Every major US company provides translations, either projected above the stage as surtitles or on screens at each seat, as at the Metropolitan Opera.

    Where are the best seats at the Metropolitan Opera?

    The center orchestra and the front rows of the center Grand Tier and Dress Circle give the best balance of sound and view. The rear seats of the side boxes are partial view, and the Family Circle score desks have no view or titles.

    When is opera season?

    Most US companies perform from early fall to spring; the Met typically runs from late September to early June. Summer festivals such as the Santa Fe Opera fill July and August.

    How long is an opera?

    Many operas run about three hours including one or two intermissions, though some are much shorter and some Wagner operas run far longer. Each company lists the running time for its production.

    What is the largest opera house in the United States?

    The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, with 3,794 seats plus standing room. Chicago's Civic Opera House, at 3,276 seats, is the second-largest opera auditorium in North America.

    Sources

    Card and header photos come from Wikimedia Commons contributors under Creative Commons or public-domain terms. Artist and license for each one are listed on the photo credits page.