Met Opera loses up to $200m in Saudi funding due to war

• Prioritising domestic investment
• ‘Falls outside what is essential’
• Diriyah opera house being built

The Saudi government has reportedly backed out of funding that could have been worth as much as $200 million to the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Government officials informed the Met of their decision via a Zoom call on Tuesday, citing damage to the economy caused by the war with Iran and their need to prioritise domestic spending programmes.

“They are only doing the projects that are essential,” the Met’s general manager Peter Gelb told The New York Times newspaper, saying that the opera funding agreement “falls outside what is essential”.

The deal, which was reported in The New York Times in September, would have provided the Met with funding over the next eight years and required the opera to take up residency in the Royal Diriyah Opera House for three weeks each February.

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The 20,000 seater opera house just outside of Riyadh remains under construction, at a cost of SAR5 billion ($1.4 billion).

According to a report by the Saudi Press Agency, the deal also included a commitment by the Met to train Saudi musicians, singers and set designers.

The news follows reports that the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which controls more than $900 billion in assets, is looking to draw down its investments in its LIV Golf tournament franchise, potentially citing damage caused by the war.