…The Opera Truly Is An Acquired Taste
1. The opera is not a particularly accessible event for the average person. Rarely is it to be seen outside of live performances, though there have been some forays into film, which means that only a small percentage of the population has any exposure to it. Like many other events that are deemed “high culture”, it is generally seen as a venue for the wealthy. Unfortunately, even when presented with the opportunity to experience it, if only once, most people would refuse given the opera’s reputation of being long and boring.
2. Opera has a lot going on - music, singing, theatre, dance and design. While it is relatively easy to figure out if the set looks good or the orchestra is playing well together, determining the difference between a good and mediocre singing performance requires a lot of practice. To start, it’s generally in a foreign language, which is barely comprehensible even as a fluent speaker. And unlike many other forms of singing where the untrained ear can get what’s what, opera singing is unique in style. Is she supposed to be shrieking like that?
3. It’s easy to get lost - unless you’ve read the story in advance. There is so much going on that it can be tough to keep track of characters, who kills who, read sub/surtitles, appreciate the music, try not to cough and keep yourself from asking questions like, “I wonder what it would be like if we sang all of our conversations?” Not to say that this can’t be overcome with practice, but it’s hard to get most people to practice or learn anything new - without a kick in the butt.
4. If opera is ever going to make the jump to a broader audience, it needs more Rabbit of Seville, What’s Opera, Doc? and Paul Potts. So far, the industry is not doing enough to let people acquire the taste for what the art has to offer. What else can they do? Let’s discuss…
February 19th, 2008 at 11:02 am
[...] RTWT [...]
February 19th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Funny that you write about this, as I just came home right now from the Opera house. The representation has been pretty bad.
I agree with you in that it requires a great experience to know what’s going on. I’ve been going to the Opera since I was 5 (more than 20 years now hehe) and what I see most of the time is that, even though the music sounded horribly, people still cheer and applaud. I don’t expect everybody to be able to know if someone should sing like that, but what I do expect is to see people differentiating someone singing from someone screaming.
You might argue that the above requires practice and experience, but in my opinion, and I’ve seen it a lot, this only happens with Opera. And you know what? The problem are all the preconceived ideas people have about the Opera. They assume that because it has been related historically to the high society, it must be good, and even though people would inevitable differentiate a scream from a tune in a U2 concert, their social prejudices get in the way when we talk about Opera.
By the way, many people that criticise the Opera have the following profile: a) They’ve never been to the Opera b) They’ve been to the Opera but never heard one of the big ones (Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, etc.) or c) Even though they went to a Traviata for example, they had bad luck and it sounded horribly (being this last option rather rare, in the sense that even if it’s bad, the composition and areas are so good that people like them either way)
Finally one last comment I hear a lot is that it’s too expensive. I must say that even though it isn’t cheap, it’s affordable for many people the problem is that the public in general have other priorities like watching soccer (in Europe) or Basketball/Football in the US. Why do people prefer soccer over the Opera, mostly because the Opera requires an effort to follow. The same happens with books vs TV.
To end this rather really long comment (I should transcribe it into a post hehe), I have to say that there are two types of people, the ones that love Opera and the ones that hate it. There isn’t a middle.
February 19th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
As a fan of opera - I think the attempts of going mainstream are quite bogus (with the exception of the bugs bunny cartoons - I adore them!) I couldn’t stand the whole 3 tenors thing - and the reaction from the masses - like they discovered this great thing called opera. I feel the same about il divo and bocelli.
However, have you ever seen Stravinsky’s opera “The Rakes Progress” an entire act is set in a brothel/whore-house. This is an opera that might be able to interest a more mainstream audience.
Or take a listen to the oratorio Carmina Burana by Carl Orff - its based on sacred text, not that you would ever know by listening to it.
Perhaps opera is not suited for everybody. But can you name one genre of music that everybody loves?
I am only familiar with one song that everyone I know is able to sing, and that is Happy Birthday. And not everyone is a fan of that song either.