NEW YORK, NY.- Four years after the coronavirus pandemic brought the curtain down on the Metropolitan Opera, audiences are nearly back, the company announced Thursday. But the company’s big bet on contemporary opera this season had mixed results.

The Met, which has been facing serious fiscal challenges, said that the 2023-24 season ended this month with 72% paid attendance overall, approaching the 75% it had in the last full season before the pandemic.

About a third of this season was devoted to contemporary operas, and those by living composers, as it works to connect with younger and more diverse audiences. Some were hits: Anthony Davis’ “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” drew 78% attendance, behind only Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Bizet’s “Carmen” and Puccini’s “Turandot.”

But two recent operas that had drawn sold-out crowds in previous seasons fared less well when they were revived: Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” drew 65% attendance, and Kevin Puts’ “The Hours,” which reunited stars Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara and Joyce DiDonato, drew 61%.

Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said the mix of old and new operas was helping drive a recovery at the box office by bringing new people into the opera house. But the company still faces significant obstacles. The Met, whose credit rating was downgraded in February by Moody’s Investors Service, has withdrawn about $70 million in emergency funds from its endowment over the past two seasons to help cover costs.

“We believe we’re on the right path artistically,” Gelb said. “But we’re still climbing out of the hole that the pandemic left us in.”

The Met is hardly the only performing arts organization still grappling with the effects of the pandemic. Attendance is still down on Broadway — it was about 17% below prepandemic levels this season — and orchestras, opera companies and theaters across the United States are laying off staff and giving fewer performances.

The challenges facing the Met are particularly acute because of the high costs of live opera. As it works to stabilize its finances, the company, with an annual budget of $327 million, is giving fewer performances of fewer titles, and is imposing other cost-cutting measures.

Because of discounts offered on some tickets, the Met’s box office has further to go to recover: It took in about 64% of its potential income this year, up from 57% last year but still below the 69% it took in for the last full season before the pandemic.

When Moody’s downgraded the Met’s credit rating in February to Ba3, from Ba2, and revised its outlook to negative from stable, it noted that while the company was working to save money, “the Met’s programs remain relatively high cost stemming from a commitment to programmatic excellence that remains expensive to deliver.”

Gelb said that the pivot to more contemporary operas had helped bring in new audience members. There were 84,934 new ticket buyers this year, a record, and 9,000 more than last season. About 21,000 purchased tickets for a contemporary opera, and about 10% of those then bought tickets for another production. (The Met said ticket buyers purchase an average of two seats.) The audience is also younger: The average age of single-ticket buyers has fallen to 44, from 50 before the pandemic.

Before its production of “X,” the Met hosted a starry, 18-hour reading of Malcolm X’s autobiography. But publicity did not always translate into ticket sales. Daniel Catán’s “Florencia en el Amazonas” drew attention as the company’s first work by a Mexican composer; it had 68% attendance. Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking,” which was given the coveted spot of opening the season, had 62% attendance. And John Adams’ opera-oratorio “El Niño,” which received positive reviews from critics, ended at 58% attendance.

Gelb said he could not explain why some new operas, including the revival of “The Hours,” did not fare better this season.

“If we knew what would result in a sold-out house,” he said, “everything would be sold out.”

Even some classics struggled to find big audiences. A production of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” with a world-class cast, including the company debut of baritone Christian Gerhaher, had 64% attendance. Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” was at the bottom of the list, with 56% attendance.

The Met has seen improvements in its Live in HD cinema broadcasts, which now contribute about $2 million to the bottom line but are down from more than $15 million before the pandemic.

Gelb said that he hoped the Met would not have to make another emergency withdrawal from the endowment in the coming season. He said the company plans to eventually replenish the fund, which had reached $340 million in 2022 but now totals about $254 million.

“As long as we keep plugging away,” he said, “we are going to find the financial means to keep us going.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.