CommentApril06 - Page: 1 of 1

“Hip h’opera!” What that?
Oh my, did we really read that Glyndebourne Education, in conjunction with Finnish National Opera, is planning a 250th birthday commemorative of Mozart by transforming his “Cosi fan tutte” into a – gulp – rap, hip h’opera? For those who don’t know what a hip h’opera is, you are blessed; you don’t want to know. For the rest, these comments.
The thinking at Glyndebourne and elsewhere is this: by adding things like street dance, graffiti art, rap and beat-box rhythm to an opera production, directors believe young people, teens especially, will explore opera and maybe even adopt it as their own. From this, the thinking goes, the audience for opera will not just grow but grow younger.
Regarding the Mozart transformation, a report on the Cape Times’ Internet site by Matilda Egere-Cooper observed that “librettist Stephen Plaice has tailored the arias and recitatives to rely on inner-city vernacular and rapping” as a way of appealing to a more youthful audience. Indeed, if we understand the article correctly, even the name “Cosi fan tutte” is being changed to “School 4 Lovers”. Apparently, spelling the word “FOR” is asking too much.
Widening the opera audience is a subject we have written much about on these pages. We have devoted more than a few commentaries and articles to the subject, and remain convinced that dumbing down opera is not the way to attract or hold new fans. Young people are far too clever for that and will not only see through, but won’t appreciate the groveling.
We address more realistic options in two steps:
First: What those who support the hip h’opera approach to expanding the opera audience fail to grasp, is that opera is not for everyone. It is however, a style that can and should be enjoyed by more people than those who currently indulge it. The question is: how best to attract that group?
We favor a different approach, an approach that, instead of trying to make opera into something it isn’t, would familiarize young and new audiences with music that is actually from opera but which has crossed mediums and is an integral part of another venue like movies – something kids do enjoy. From cartoons and romantic “chic flicks” to war movies and murder mysteries opera is and has been an integral part of the medium of movies – and movies have been and continue to be an integral part of young peoples’ lives. We live in a video age where young people are accustomed to getting their information from videos. Why not use that medium to opera's advantage?
Example: this month the Met will be performing Wagner’s “Lohengrin” a beautiful opera with music anyone who has ever attended a wedding (the Wedding procession) is familiar with. There are literally dozens of musical compositions that non opera fans are familiar with and about which they need only be reminded, namely: that what they are listening to and enjoying is opera.
If you can convince young people that some of the music that moves them is opera, you will have accomplished a lot. And that’s how we would introduce opera to a younger audience.
It’s a start, and far more realistic than trying to pass off rap or beat-box music as what it is not. You gradually introduce young people to opera, not by oversaturating them with operas that are far too complex or obtuse for them to enjoy, but by introducing them to what they already know. Here’s a suggestion: produce an opera video consisting of outtakes from films where opera played an important role and show the video to school audiences.
Second: We would favor an approach we have written about in the past. Opera as it was once performed was, indeed, stuffy and the way it was presented showed very little regard for what the audience saw – as opposed to what it heard. The days of the proverbial “fat lady” are quickly disappearing, and with the disappearance of that image and style there has come a heightened awareness that what the audience sees has to be as exciting as what it hears – maybe even more so.
Opera is, after all, theater. We have seen venerable institutions like the Met to regional companies like Opera North take this into account when casting new productions. The result is astounding: opera is sexier, and can get even sexier within taste – and this will definitely attract younger audiences. So, along with the opera video of filmed outtakes, include in this video outtakes of the newer breed of singer – younger, trimmer, fitter, and more appealing to youth. This will surely draw a younger audiences’ interest.
The last two productions of Carmen we saw: one at the Met and one in Boston with Teatro Lirico D’Europa -- and come to think of it the last two productions of La Boheme we attended -- drew upon the sex appeal of its female leads, most notably, in the way Musetta is now almost always presented. Yes, the contemporary Musetta flashes and exposes some flesh and is far more believable, lusty, appealing and real in the process. And we would be remiss if we didn’t mention how Opera North livened things up a few summer ago with its steamy version of Shakespear’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
The point is this: the built in sizzle of opera is there to be enjoyed and updated as noted above and wise directors will have more, not less, of it in their productions. The road to a younger audience is through their hormones; the role of directors, we would think, is to find a way to meld the music with the production to get those hormones racing and interest ignited to see and hear more. Our suggestion this month: we think it would be a good idea if someone would commission a video described above (from cartoons to movies) for schools that can be introduced into music classes to show opera at its best and most appealing light. Presented along with the appearance of a couple younger singers, one would expect, if nothing else, a younger audience to be intrigued if not pleasantly surprised to find that they might actually like some opera – and that’s progress. But dumbing down what it takes years for singers to master is, well, insulting.