Worldwide reviews for a worldwide audience
Commentary, November 2007
The unkindest cut of all from Boston Lyric and Opera Boston.
OperaOnline.us owner, Paul Joseph Walkowski: "Frankly, I'm angry and hurt."
For some of us, you see, it isn’t just about the company, or even the money. I seriously doubt that Opera Boston or Boston Lyric contributors give to these companies for the return on investment. Few companies can make any such return to contributors. Presumably, contributors give to promote the art form, just like us. The only difference is, our contributions are, perhaps, more labor intensive – we give our time and energy, to promote the singers and everyone else involved.
Our writers contribute a lot to opera. They spend hours writing reviews and days composing articles for our readers – and they receive no compensation for their efforts – but one -- they get a performance "comp" or sometimes two.
Last month both Opera Boston and Boston Lyric Opera notified us that we were no longer on their media list for comp tickets – sorry. Apparently, we’re not a major, or even worthwhile, review source for them.
Reviewers, we might remind them, don’t just serve opera companies; our universe is much bigger. We serve those who perform in opera, too. As a matter of fact, that has always been our first priority here at OperaOnline.us. Just look at our singer profiles. Few sites promote singers as much as us.
What is more strange about the cuts is that our reviewers have been welcomed at major opera companies across the United States: LA, San Diego, San Francisco, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia operas, the Met, Washington National Opera, Virginia Opera, Connecticut Opera and, up until last month, by our hometown companies: Opera Boston and Boston Lyric Opera.
Indeed, we have been invited to attend and review performances at more places than we can either physically or afford to attend, after all this is a self-funded site. Even with our limited resources, however, we have reached out and written about and interviewed opera philanthropists, composers, conductors, singers who are both locally and nationally known, general directors and, on occasion, members of the audience, to get their views on topics of interest.
Major CD and DVD labels: DECCA, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, etc., regularly send us promotional discs to review – and we do those reviews monthly. Monthly visits to the site have grown from a few hundred when we started to fifty to sixty thousand a month today, and every month the base grows as more and more people check us out.
We pioneered, the “Best of” opera awards, and were followed shortly thereafter by “Opera News” when it announced after 87-years without any awards, its own first annual awards. Good ideas travel fast and take hold quickly.
We cover smaller companies few others in the media cover and offer singers and talented production people the kind of national media attention they hope for but which often eludes them.
All utilize our website, most particularly singers and companies, who quote our reviews liberally and feature what we say about them on their web pages. Our thousands of monthly visitors know how hard we promote opera and how we try to excite others to join the fun by attending live performances and buying the CDs and DVDs we recommend.
With all this, we were shocked when we learned that only “major” reviewers need apply to the Boston companies for review tickets. When we asked to see the lists of those invited and those cut, we were refused that information. So sorry, it’s confidential! I always thought 501C3’s maintained open books.
Well, we’re sorry to see these companies withdraw from the list of companies we cover regularly. It’s a loss for us and a loss for them, but also a loss to our readers and all those who toil in Boston productions in the hope of growing their careers and maybe getting some additional recognition for the work they do. We read the major press and we enjoy their reviews, too. But only one is a dedicated opera site: and that one is OperaOnline.us.
This decision truly makes little to no sense and makes me wonder, as owner of this site, why? Frankly, it is insulting and discouraging. I have not decided what to do yet. I am part angry, part frustrated and part hurt by the action of these two companies.
Contributors should know this and, for that reason, this post will remain up for a while.
For some of us, you see, it isn’t just about the company, or even the money. I seriously doubt that Opera Boston or Boston Lyric contributors give to these companies for the return on investment. Few companies can make any such return to contributors. Presumably, contributors give to promote the art form, just like us. The only difference is, our contributions are, perhaps, more labor intensive – we give our time and energy to promote the singers and everyone else involved.
Until told otherwise last month, I thought we were all in it to promote the art form. I thought that that was what everyone wanted. Truth be known, if it is just about the money and getting a sound "return on investment," opera isn't the place to look for that pot of gold. Ironically, the best things in this business are free, because the best thing in this business aren't things at all: they're the people who work it -- whether Boston Lyric or Opera Boston gets it or not, we here at OperaOnline.us are part of that group, a working member of that team, too. The only difference is we don;t have contributors. Our efforts are rewarded by the "comps" we get for the work we do. I never thought that was asking too much, and still don't.
