I don’t enjoy listening to, or watching, opera. The only people I know who do are my in-laws, both in their 80s.
I understand that it used to be the ultimate form of entertainment, pomp and pageantry, all that. But to me it’s basically people in loud makeup singing loudly for lack of a microphone. I’m sure that experts would say they’re singing well, and I’m aware that it’s very difficult to sing powerfully while moving and acting in front of a live audience. That doesn’t mean that the end result is entertaining by the standards of 2014.
So, do you think there will still be live productions of La Traviata in 2064? Will there be anyone in the audience?
Of course they will. Opera has survived the movie industry, which has really been it’s only competitor. Even early opera is still around and performed. What’s more, contemporary opera thrives which will always generate interest in earlier ones.
The musical seems to be alive and well, and, while there’s a difference between a Broadway-style musical and an opera, the boundary between them is fuzzy.
Plus, opera proper (as opposed to Broadway musicals, rock operas, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, and such) has never been as prominent a cultural force in English-speaking countries as it has in, say, Italy; so I’d take a look at how opera is doing there before declaring it dead.
So don’t. But you don’t represent all of humanity. There is still a sizable audience who find opera to be intensely enjoyable. Do you think all the money spent on an opera production, including recordings, is merely for the sake of your 80-something in-laws?
My niece, 18, will be going to Oberlin this year to study classical voice; she has what I estimate are 200+ Facebook friends (of 900) in the same age group whom she knows from singing (classical) at Tanglewood, from her internship at Manhattan School of Music, from other workshops and choruses she’s attended locally, all of whom see classical/operatic singing as their future. That’s just one small circle of students that I happen to know about.
People thought opera was dying when I was a kid. Meanwhile, my high school was the first (and still one of the only) to produce full-scale operas, a tradition it began back in the 1970s, and by the time I attended in the early- to mid-'80s I was lucky enough to perform La Cenorentola, Tales of Hoffman, Suor Angelica, Così fan tutte, and Susannah. Music education (and admittedly, very musically-inclined parents) helped me to love singing in just about every form, particularly opera and musical theater. Today the school still performs operas, and creates new audiences and singers with each new class. Meanwhile, opera performances are now simulcast via cinemas, and sell out regularly.
Renee Fleming sang the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl, for pete’s sake. When was the last time that happened? She was given that honor now, despite the alleged fact that only 80-year-olds like opera. The NFL could have gotten anyone they wanted, including Carrie Underwood, Lady Gaga, or Rhianna, for that gig–as they have, numerous times, with numerous pop stars doing well or crashing spectacularly. This year, they picked a phenomenal opera singer. Why would they do that if opera is simply the domain of 80-year-olds?
So, yeah, I don’t think opera’s going anywhere. The form’s beautiful music, romantic/epic stories, and heartfelt performances are all timeless. They’ve survived 500 years and I wager they’ll stick it out another 50.
I’m 44; I’ve loved opera since I was 14 or so. The oldest son of my last pre-marriage girlfriend spontaneously grew to love opera around the age of nine; he’s now 18.
Most human activities also serve a useful purpose as class markers.
While I love the idea of Chinese people really “getting into” opera the rash of opera houses that are going up in China are not so much about Mozart as money, class and adoption of European cultural values than the artistry of the medium.
Renee Fleming sang the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl, for pete’s sake. When was the last time that happened? She was given that honor now, despite the alleged fact that only 80-year-olds like opera. The NFL could have gotten anyone they wanted, including Carrie Underwood, Lady Gaga, or Rhianna, for that gig–as they have, numerous times, with numerous pop stars doing well or crashing spectacularly. This year, they picked a phenomenal opera singer. Why would they do that if opera is simply the domain of 80-year-olds?
So, yeah, I don’t think opera’s going anywhere. The form’s beautiful music, romantic/epic stories, and heartfelt performances are all timeless. They’ve survived 500 years and I wager they’ll stick it out another 50.
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We are longtime members of the Metropolitan and more recently Seattle Opera companies; our local theater shows the Met simulcasts and it is usually packed; we watched Renee Fleming sing the Anthem and then didn’t watch the game;). I saw my first opera, Rigoletto, at the old Met in NYC at age 9 or 10 and have a lifelong weakness for Verdi. My husband’s grandfather was a Wagner fan and had to go down to the basement to play his recordings…
Perhaps you are not looking in the right places. Rufous Wainwright has written an opera. Bubblegum, er, JB, hasn’t produced anything I think will last, because even a bad taste in your mouth goes away eventually.
Well, the consensus seems to be that opera is still quite popular and will remain so for generations to come.
Thanks to choie for the well-written and informative rebuttal.
All right, I’ll admit my question was poorly phrased. It gave some of you the impression that I believed opera would disappear because I, personally, don’t appreciate it.
To take Miller’s example, I don’t appreciate football, but I can readily see its popularity around me and in the media and speculate that today’s teens and 20-somethings will have kids who will want to play and/or watch football 50 years from now.
Perhaps, if I watched more football, I would have seen Renée Fleming at the Super Bowl and not asked this question at all.
The opera company I work for frequently sells out shows and brings in cultural tourists to the middle of nowhere every year from 35+ states and multiple countries for our summer festival. We usually get over 1000 applications from aspiring singers for the 40 slots available in our young artists program. Our educational outreach brings opera to about 25,000 school kids and their families every year and is fully booked every year for nearly three months of performances and workshops. We are expanding our program offerings in collaboration with other cultural institutions who are very enthusiastic about partnerships. Our demographic may still be older, but the 40 and under demographic is catching up.
Yeah, from where I sit the problem is not with the art form but the business structures supporting it. I predict the number of traditionally-run opera companies might go down but other will find new ways to reinvent how to present opera going forward. Repertoire will always include the classics but there is also a lot of interest in late 20th century and 21st century works. My own company is producing la traviata, Rossini’s Le Comte Ory, Dead Man Walking, an opera written in 2000, and a short, non-traditional Tragedy of Carmen. If we threw in a baroque piece it would practically cover the history of opera. Maybe next year.