CommentAug07 - Page: 1 of 1

By: Carie J. Delmar -- Whenever there’s a cause, it seems that rock ‘n’ roll, rap and heavy metal always win out over classical. Americans set the standard. In other countries, classical music, opera and musical theater share the bill, but in America, rock ‘n’ roll and heavy metal reign supreme, and young people all over the world seem to want to emulate Americans.

Of course, the English share in the glory. After all, it was the Beatles who started it all. Just last month, London’s Wembley Stadium hosted a rock concert in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales. Then the following week, Al Gore threw a "Live Earth" shindig there to make us more aware of global warming. Twenty-four hours of rock – many of those hours accessible over the Internet and on T.V. – it was a global happening.

But for those who love classical music, opera, and musical theater, it’s difficult to stay tuned in to more than a few minutes of heavy metal and rap. Such noise only serves to make one reflect on the stereotypical musicians who partake in making such noise. They represent to the world what we in America stand for. They have the power to move mountains. They can make our leaders take note. They can change the world.

Unfortunately, many of those who listen to them are often persuaded to espouse their lifestyles. The majority will hardly run the world, run for office, or become influential enough to do anything about the issues that they are being confronted with. It’s all a big party to them and it erodes what we old folks call culture.

Many of us are politically proactive and might want to partake in events that will change the course of history, but we won’t be a part of such rock fests. A statement is being made about our society when rock fests are the only form of entertainment that can influence our young people, and many older people as well.

Why couldn’t Gore have planned a concert that included rock, with pop, with jazz, with musical theater, with classical music, with opera? After all, we are a country of diversity. Culture, intelligence and family values are in jeopardy if rock ‘n’ roll is at the crux of American society.

An appreciation for classical music, opera and ballet breeds discipline, and discipline creates upstanding citizens and leaders.

We all want to fight for the issues that are important to us. But are we going to let rock ‘n’ roll rock the foundations of our society? Surely we need to elevate our youngsters to appreciate something more. The success of our society depends upon it.

By: Paul Joseph Walkowski -- This month, our West Coast writer, Carie J. Delmar, gave us one perspective on a cultural world heading toward the proverbial "Hell in a hand basket.," In many respects she's right on mark. Global music fests seem to be the unique province of rock and rap, and whatever other music reins supreme at the moment. It seems that it's at these gatherings, almost exclusivcely, that “messages” are communicated globally and the world community, especially the young, is expected to listen.

Still, there was the 2006 “Berlin Concert,” featuring Domingo, Netrebko and Villazón, now available on DVD. This concert featured some remarkable performances before 20,000 enthusiastic opera fans. It wasn’t a world event as was the Al Gore “Live Earth” concert that was carried by simulcasts in several countries, but it was an event of note, and its longevity will very likely outlive anything the pop rock artists of “Live Earth” gave us – and therein lies the rub.

Few will be thinking fondly of or even remembering the forgettable music they heard at “Live Earth,” ten years from now, let alone one-hundred years from now. As for the “message” the concert was supposed to convey, well – it’s debatable whether the message is even accurate. The music of opera, on the other hand, has both a long history and generational following that survives the age. So while the “Berlin Concert” may not have had the immediate impact of a “Live Earth,” in the long run it will overshadow its more popular equivalent and communicate something far more significant, more dignified, and more uplifting about humankind than any profanity ridden outbursts seen on the rock or rap stage.

The “Berlin Concert” wasn’t intended to promote anything other than ticket sales and then, after that, DVD sales. It will undoubtedly accomplish the latter easily; the former was already a huge success. The fact is, when it comes to putting on concerts to save the world, opera isn’t going to be the best forum, nor should it be. Offering up this medium on the alter of the political moment to show that we, too, are part of the “oh-so-concerned” culture, is something we might want to avoid, if for no other reason than opera is not a fad.

Pop concerts may attractr young people, but not much more. A concert may reflect a culture, but it rarely make one. To think othereidse gives concerts like “Live Earth” more credit and credibility than they deserve. “Live Earth” is over and its “message,” to the extent there was one beyond, come and join the fun, has dissipated. The young are not marching in the street behind a rock band demanding whatever it is that they’re supposed to chant; most are finishing off their summer, preparing to return to school in a few months, and wondering where their next dollar will come from. Some, might even end up becoming opera fans years down the road, and there’s a good bet they’ll be watching and enjoying the “Berlin Concert,” not a rehash of “Live Earth.”

Alas, our culture is safe.

A recent review by Carie Delmar regarding a chindren's opera got us thinking about an editorial we wrote on the subject several months ago. We reprint it here agaion, because it's worth considering. Just how do you get kids interested in this musical form? Below is what we said, then.

We sometimes take for granted the hard work and service opera companies provide in their programs aimed at reaching out to new, younger audiences, especially the educational outreach so many companies provide to our schools. It’s not an easy undertaking – but one that is desperately needed now.

Growing up, opera was always close – even though most of us over the age of 60 didn’t know it. And it wasn’t just close to a few; it was close to every young boy and girl who enjoyed Saturday morning and movie matinee cartoons that we eagerly anticipated. Opera saturated a child’s environment in, of all places, cartroons. Was the inclusion of opera a conscious effort on behalf of studios? Who knows. Maybe it was just that opera provided the musical complexity that something as simple as a children’s cartoon needed for the wild chases or zany moments. Writing music for these scenet would befuddle even the most talented songwriter trying to compose a score for them today. Whatever the reason, the music of opera (Kill-da-wabbit, Kill-the-wabbit, Kill-the-wabbit . . . apologies to Wagner's,' Valkyries.) was there in abundance and it formed a subconscious base that in time actually triggered a comfortable familiarization with it the older we got and heard it, but in a different context.

How many children today have that same experience? I haven’t heard much in the way of music in any of the electronic games young people play. And from the cartoons I have seen, the music has sort of morphed into a kind of mechanized series of sounds and electronic bleeps. How sad.

Opera, as we knew it as children, is gone from that place where it once enjoyed relative dominance: children's programmoing, and the outreach programs we see today are, in many cases, the only chance young people will get to know what it is they are listening to. OperaOnline.us has called in the past for the opera community, as a whole, to rally around this cause and add to its standard fare, something that can be adopted nationally, that will also reach out to young people, in a forum young people are most comfortable with – video.

An example of how effective this merger of medium and music can be is found in a recent “Bose” radio promotional show in local mall stores. The video, ostensibly meant to demonstrate the “Bose” radio sound, contained, in addition to a series of inspirational images of young people excelling in their various pursuits (gymnastics, dance), a backup score of Puccini’s aria “Nessun Dorma” from “Turandot.” It was quite moving and very effective, and for many in the younger audience who watched this promotional tool, it may have been the first time they heard anything like it. We need more of that. The full sound of some of the most musically pleasing and best of opera, seen and heard in a context that tells a story that interests younger people, can be a potent supplement to the piano recitals that demonstrate vocal skill, but can leave many others dry.

Recently Julie Bosman, writing for the New York Times, noted the Met's increasing interest in going outside the box to attract a new audience while maintaining the one it presently has. It's a subject we have written about here. Bosman noted the difficulty of the Met's task. "Marketing opera to a wider audience," she wrote, "particularly a younger one, is likely to be a challenging task." Here at OperaOnline.us we think differently. We think its a fairly simple task, and one that is incredibly untapped.

When trying to attract younger audiences every tool in the opera kit should be used to attract interest. The medium of video is another ally we believe is overlooked, even though it could be one of the strongest mediums employed to attract younger fans. If you want to get young people to attend and try opera, reach out to them in a forum they understand -- and for now, at least, that forum may not be the front doors of an opera house; it might be, instead, a ten or fifteen minute video shown at the begining of a "reach out" program, before a recital takes place. It can be done; it should be done.