State of the (operatic) nation

Usually I try not to think about the plight or otherwise of opera in New Zealand, mostly because it just upsets me. But there was a feature about just that on TV One's arts show Frontseat last night, followed by a sort of group activity: two groups each given twenty minutes to come up with a 'concept' which would help increase the audience for opera in New Zealand. They've drawn on the groups' ideas for this week's feedback question. As I say, usually I would just change the channel and the subject, but this time I thought, to hell with it, I'll respond. Which I have. Probably rather too copiously for their purposes; but there are no word limits here in the blogosphere, so for better or worse, I give you the Frontseat feedback question and the letter I've just emailed off in response.

This week's question: Which of these touring concepts would attract an audience? 'Opera on speed' - a selection of opera's greatest hits or 'Our Stories' NZ composers and singers doing orginal pieces related to NZ literature?

My response:

I think it's very likely that both these touring concepts would attract a reasonable audience, in great simply because they ARE 'touring' concepts. When an professional arts event hits a town which otherwise doesn't get to see much opera, ballet, orchestral music etc. at that level, it's got a very good chance of selling well, because it's a rare opportunity and a novelty. But whether either of these would serve the purpose they're designed for - appreciably increasing the audience for opera in New Zealand generally - is another question entirely. 

The 'Opera On Speed' concept has its attractions, but as it stands ('opera's greatest hits') I don't know that it would achieve a great deal. As Margaret Medlyn said on the show, people like the tunes they know. But if knowing and liking these tunes hasn't already intrigued them enough to bring them along to see the whole show, why would a touring concert of such excerpts change that? I also think there can be a danger in the 'greatest hits' approach. It might be a more immediately appealing way to package opera, but in the end it's not REALLY opera, is it? Ms Medlyn did also suggest combining the familiar and the not so familiar, and I think she's right. If all you've seen and heard is strings of Italian arias, what on earth will you make of Salomé or Lulu? And take 'Nessun dorma', for instance, perhaps the most widely recognized aria out there, but one which in the context of the opera it comes from is something wildly different from the way it's done by Andrea Bocelli or the Three Tenors. A touring concert could be an excellent idea but it ought to reflect the reality of the operatic experience at its best, not lull a doubting audience into a false sense of security. We should have faith in New Zealand audiences to appreciate more about opera than just familiar Italian tunes.

In many ways the 'Our Stories' idea gets a little closer to what I'm on about. It's complete opera, and it balances the familiar (New Zealand stories) with the challenging (modern opera). But at the same time I think it faces a similar problem to 'Opera On Speed', and that's the degree to which it reflects opera as a whole. One of the best things about opera is its incredibly international nature: works in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech and Russian can all move and excite audiences around the planet, because what they all rely on ultimately is music and not nationality. New Zealand-oriented operas are a fabulous idea, and the more the better, but they're still only one facet of a glorious world of variety. If we're going to tour a trio of new operas, why not throw in one from Japan, or Finland, or Brazil? Kate Mead made the point that another take on something like Traviata or Cenerentola isn't likely to be of much interest internationally - the world surely would be more interested in operas which represent New Zealand. If this is true - and I can't help but think that moving something old and familiar into a recognisably New Zealand setting could, if done well, be absolutely fascinating - then surely New Zealand must, by the same token, take a look at the operas which represent other countries. I understand the wish to make opera as 'relevant' as possible but I'd like to think that this doesn't depends on a wealth of things more significant than plain geography.

I guess what's needed is the best of both worlds: an appealing, marketable concept which nevertheless can replace the old clichés of immense horned women and lovestricken Italian tenors with what lovers of opera know to be the truth: a wonderful world of music and drama which is too multi-faceted, and so much an individual experience, that it can't be reduced to a stereotype. Everyone who loves opera loves different works, and different things about the art form: if a touring concept is going to bring in new audiences, it needs to come as close as it can to introducing its audience to THAT kind of world.