<p>Vienna can afford to charge those prices since it is heavily subsidized by the government. That’s why European houses give full year contracts to artists, American houses ----not. With the exception of the Met and who knows how long that will last. LA Opera makes tickets affordable to students as well,and the performances are hardly half empty, but they are heavily dependent on large donations, just like most other American houses. I was shocked to read that the Met broadcasts are a “break even” proposition. Those numbers do not make sense.</p>