For the better part of a year, SF Opera general director David Glockey has been sounding the alarm publicly about the famed opera company's shaky finances. He stuck a series of notes in the programs this fall and, on Sunday, gave an interview to the SF Chronicle's Joshua Kosman in which he described the company's position as "teetering."

Here is more from the story:

"The annual expenses are about $7 million more than we can reliably fund, and half of our annual gifts are made by just 11 individuals who are over 65 years old.

"That is sleep-depriving."

Among the perils besetting the company, Gockley says, are a $136 million endowment only half as large as it needs to be; dauntingly high fixed costs, particularly for health care; a punishingly compact performance schedule in a technologically antiquated facility; and a geographically scattered patchwork of office space, rehearsal venues and storage facilities.

And SF isn't the only regional company suffering. In Sacramento, the local troupe is facing an even more dire situation. According to the Sacramento Press (hat tip here to Art Practical for the link), the company needs over $14,000 to meet its goal of $175,000 or it will have to cancel its upcoming season. Already, the Sacramento Opera has canceled two of last season's shows because of poor fundraising.

Both S.F. and Sacramento Operas cite the high production costs of this artistic form — and the luscious sets and costuming do stand out as particularly necessary expenditures. No one goes to the opera for minimalistic entertainment. But compounding these problems, especially for SF Opera, are rising health care costs, an aging support base and the fiscal crisis on the municipal level that makes additional public support hard to come by. This January, the city of Napa did pledge $1.5 million to help the Napa Valley Opera House pay off debts — but that funding came from redevelopment money, whose existence is in doubt due to Governor Brown's budget recommendations.

Even with the excitement over the S.F. Opera's upcoming Ring Cycle, Glockey's calls for structural change seem well-founded — as arts institutions fall over themselves to fundraise, it's a crowded field for the philantropic dollar. Operas are going to need to get creative if they hope to survive. (Insert pun over fat lady singing.)