Actually the brain cells are all concentrated in Cambridge- just ask the
Harvard- MIT folks.  However- there is a history to all of this. Twenty
years ago the inventive and visionary Sarah Caldwell produced several fine
performances every season. She never could get the financial backing or the
fund raising infrastructure to make a long term go of it - today she is a
professor in Arkansas. I have heard it claimed that Sarah was not great on
the money- administrative side, yet wanted to keep all the decision making
for herself.  There is, I believe, no really good venue for opera in
Boston, but I can be wrong. I do know that the Metropolitan Opera stopped
visiting Boston a decade ago, and I don't think it was becaause of lack of
interest.  There are a few small companies that try to keep opera alive in
Boston, but John is essentially correct.  I would speculate that the rich
folks in Boston who are interested in music mainly support the Boston
Symphony. If I am correct about lack of a first class venue, the next
question is why? Boston is an impossible place to get large projects done
- too damn tribal- too mean spirited- too litigious, too" smart" to buy
into boosterism, too convinced that the city is a cultural gem as is.
This is particularly true when public money is needed. Boston has been
rated very low in terms of public support for the arts, but Mayor Menino
has vowed to do better.  Maybe Mimi Ezust or Stirling Newberry or Roger
Hecht among others can add something. I have put down everything I know
and a little extra!!!

Bernard Chasan