A Metropolitan Opera High Note, as Donations Hit $182 Million

According to preliminary figures released for the first time, the Metropolitan Opera hauled in $182 million, an astonishing amount in a tough economic climate and 50 percent more than it raised just the year before.

And for the first time in seven years, the Met had balanced its budget, thanks partly to $11 million in profits last year from its HD movie theater transmissions, which had been operating for only five years.