(Credit: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera)

The Metropolitan Opera’s ticket sales for the 2021-22 season have been disclosed.

In a New York Times feature, the organization noted that it was “warily watching sales” in comparison to those from the year before the pandemic.

In a statement, the Times notes, “It has sold about $20 million worth of tickets for the season so far, the company said, down from $27 million at the same point in the season before the pandemic. Subscriptions, which have been steadily eroding at American symphony orchestras and opera companies in recent years, are down by about a quarter from before the pandemic, but officials expect more subscribers to renew when they feel safe about attending.”

However, it was noted that strong sales for the company’s Verdi Requiem to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, was a sign of hope that audiences would come back. The Verdi Requiem concert was sold out in hours demonstrating that audiences are more willing to sit in a filled auditorium.

After closing for a year and a half during the pandemic, the Met lost $150 million in earned revenues and is now facing challenges in selling its 3,800-seat opera house amid renewed concerns about the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

There are still many questions about how the company’s vaccine mandate will affect returning audience members and how travel bans will affect international sales.

The Metropolitan Opera is set to open on Sept. 27 with a historic production of “Fire Shut up in my Bones.”