OperaLush: Making Opera Less Scary
I am fortunate to have surrounded myself with a modest coterie of people who already love the music I love. However, I cannot discount those in my life who are not so familiar in my art and, as far as I can tell, have no desire to remedy that. I have friends and family who, while they are supportive of my life, struggle to enjoy opera. This is often due to language barriers, inaccessibility and that gripping fear of the unknown. Opera has a bad reputation.
So what's the deal? Some of it is the language barrier, but even the smaller companies will either perform in vernacular translations, like the San Francisco Bay Area's Pocket Opera company. More common are super-title, which can be found everywhere from the Met to my own undergraduate performance of Dido & Aeneas as far back as 2015. Luckily, operas are repetative, so one need only check a phrase on super-titles once and they can then re-immerse themselves in the story and music.
It's also damn expensive. Live performance of all kinds struggles with this issue. The cost of putting on an opera is enormous. Singers, light technicians, instrumentalists, set designers, sometimes dancers, makeup artists, not to mention the cost of renting a venue, and/or the box office usage, and so much more all go into putting on a production. The task of balancing the spectacle to draw audiences while keeping tickets from being prohibitive is however, another discussion or another class.
I bring up ticket cost through, because it speaks to a larger issue that keeps butts out of the seats: opera, and classical music in general, is considered a luxury for the stuffy and pretentious. It's fair to say that to perform opera as a singer of member of the orchestra does require diligent study that lends itself to an academic setting in a way that pop music does not require. Classical music demands expertise from its performers which can lead to a reputation of classical musicians as aloof. When we are learning our craft, we talk about dominant sevenths, cadence and mode types, and joke about everyone overlooking the violists. Scary stuff.
That being said, this expertise is not necessarily indicative of snobbery. The same tenor I know who can wax poetical about how to trill in a properly Baroque fashion also loves to talk in as much depth about The Bachelorette. Most singers I know are down to earth and humble people who also happen to have a career specialty.
So how do I should that side of myself and my friends to wider audience? How do we invite them into this world and assure them you can be a part of the opera world without being an expert in it? We must lower the inhibitions of ourselves and our intended audiences. So Drinks?
After a cocktail, I am a louder, more rambunctious, clumsy, foul-mouthed version of myself, which can have great entertainment value. However, I do not lose my love or knowledge of opera after a few shots of Maker's Mark. I simply am more vulnerable. In being more vulnerable, perhaps, I can help viewers let their guard down. Laugh at the silly tipsy lady, for sure, but keep watching because the story I'm telling is actually engaging now.
I've only just begun this experiment. One episode created and another in that limbo of video editing. I already know how I want to change the program as I go. But there is something here that is worth a shot. Even if my opera friends and I are the only ones who enjoy this, at least I can say I had a few laughs. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m677R2jJYlM&t=887s
So what's the deal? Some of it is the language barrier, but even the smaller companies will either perform in vernacular translations, like the San Francisco Bay Area's Pocket Opera company. More common are super-title, which can be found everywhere from the Met to my own undergraduate performance of Dido & Aeneas as far back as 2015. Luckily, operas are repetative, so one need only check a phrase on super-titles once and they can then re-immerse themselves in the story and music.
It's also damn expensive. Live performance of all kinds struggles with this issue. The cost of putting on an opera is enormous. Singers, light technicians, instrumentalists, set designers, sometimes dancers, makeup artists, not to mention the cost of renting a venue, and/or the box office usage, and so much more all go into putting on a production. The task of balancing the spectacle to draw audiences while keeping tickets from being prohibitive is however, another discussion or another class.
I bring up ticket cost through, because it speaks to a larger issue that keeps butts out of the seats: opera, and classical music in general, is considered a luxury for the stuffy and pretentious. It's fair to say that to perform opera as a singer of member of the orchestra does require diligent study that lends itself to an academic setting in a way that pop music does not require. Classical music demands expertise from its performers which can lead to a reputation of classical musicians as aloof. When we are learning our craft, we talk about dominant sevenths, cadence and mode types, and joke about everyone overlooking the violists. Scary stuff.
That being said, this expertise is not necessarily indicative of snobbery. The same tenor I know who can wax poetical about how to trill in a properly Baroque fashion also loves to talk in as much depth about The Bachelorette. Most singers I know are down to earth and humble people who also happen to have a career specialty.
So how do I should that side of myself and my friends to wider audience? How do we invite them into this world and assure them you can be a part of the opera world without being an expert in it? We must lower the inhibitions of ourselves and our intended audiences. So Drinks?
After a cocktail, I am a louder, more rambunctious, clumsy, foul-mouthed version of myself, which can have great entertainment value. However, I do not lose my love or knowledge of opera after a few shots of Maker's Mark. I simply am more vulnerable. In being more vulnerable, perhaps, I can help viewers let their guard down. Laugh at the silly tipsy lady, for sure, but keep watching because the story I'm telling is actually engaging now.
I've only just begun this experiment. One episode created and another in that limbo of video editing. I already know how I want to change the program as I go. But there is something here that is worth a shot. Even if my opera friends and I are the only ones who enjoy this, at least I can say I had a few laughs. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m677R2jJYlM&t=887s