
The Fat Lady Is Singing - akakievich
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/fat-lady-singing/
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spchampion2
American opera is suffering from the same problem faced by a lot of mainstream
culture from the 20th century - it's too used to operating at scale and too
expensive to cut back.

This isn't to say that art is dead, and I always hate the common complaint
about audiences abandoning classical because schools cut back on music
education. Music, like television, has become far more diverse in style and
complexity. At the same time, audiences have become far more diverse in taste.
The end result is that, in New York at least, the music world is thriving!
Venues host musicians from a huge breadth of backgrounds and styles, and
audiences can now choose from a huge variety of musical styles.

On the other hand, the scale of these productions has gotten smaller.
Television shows that used to have audiences in the 10s of millions now get by
with fewer than 1 million viewers. Savvy producers now know how to create TV
shows on smaller budgets, and savvy content networks know how to build a
breadth of shows to satisfy a wide range of audiences. The same must be true
with music productions.

Ultimately, the Met is declining because there's more choice to be found
elsewhere, and they're too big to slim down to the point where they can remain
competitive.

Related, and worth reading: On 10 Years of the New New-Music Scene, and 30
Years of My Own - [http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/ten-years-of-the-new-new-
musi...](http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/ten-years-of-the-new-new-music-
scene.html)

~~~
bsder
It's also is apparently the case that America seems to suffer from an
embarrassing number of really excellent musicians--and New York is the
absolute poster child for this.

This seems to be borne out by the fact that so many American musicians do
incredibly well overseas while provoking absolute yawns in their home country.

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gumby
Realistically Opera suffers from two problems: 1- the economics are terrible,
2- the niche it filled has been filled by something else. Opera, an in
particular opera buffa, was spectacle: the Marvel film of its age. Well now
many more people can see a Marvel film and while it costs more to produce than
Aïda does, it's CAPEX not OPEX. And the Marvel films have better special
effects than Lohengrin.

The same thing happened to silent movies: the technology moved on and the
remnants remained as the domain of enthusiasts ("Battleship Potempkin" or "The
Artist"). That's not a tragedy, it's simply the nature of things.

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ggm
If you can find somebody who has been able to see "nixon in china" or "the
death of klinghoffer" then you're a rara avis.

Opera has devolved to popularism. Obviously much opera always _was_ populism,
I mean how many drinking songs can you stomach? or, merry widows?

TB isn't romantic unless its mimi dying. Clowns are horrid but tragic. Killer
clown movie! no.. its opera son..

But try and stage a modern opera, or an opera which genuinely comes with
shocks (Klinghoffer is still sometimes opposed by members of the Jewish
community. I can't say I understand this totally, but thats what I read)

------
cm2012
Opera is a remnant of the worst kind of nouveau riche status seeking.

Why do Americans listen to Opera in languages they don't speak? The English
watch English operas, the French French, Italian Italian, etc. This is because
the newly wealthy 19th century Americans wanted to seem fancy like they
thought the rich Europeans were.

The less pretentious form is just musicals, which are as popular today as
they've ever been.

~~~
ken
Is it also "nouveau riche status seeking" to watch movies in languages we
don't speak?

Is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" not a valid film for me to enjoy because I
can't appreciate it in its native Mandarin? That sounds even more pompous to
me.

~~~
checkyoursudo
I would go see a foreign-language opera if there were real-time subtitles
displayed in my preferred language.

~~~
tacon
I believe the official name is "surtitles", as they appear above the stage.
(One small advantage for the cheap, high seats with easy view of surtitles.)
Those are pretty standard these days in the big theaters. Don't be fooled that
the Germans and Italians are understanding all the lyrics. With the long,
drawn out notes and flourishes from the orchestra drowning out the singers,
many/most of the native listeners are following along because they already
know the lyrics. Ditto for the few operas in English. I have had surtitles for
Nixon in China, and definitely needed them.

------
RickJWagner
IMHO, Opera suffers from a dearth of good marketing.

Thinking about the topic, I can think of at least a couple of cool resources
that could be used to plug opera to wider audiences:

\- 'The Doctor' from Star Trek Voyager

\- Bohemian Rhapsody, of course

\- Just about all of 'Bat Out of Hell'

Those 3 sell me on opera.

~~~
ken
The best marketing for opera that I ever saw was from Fred Rogers. As kids we
knew nothing about the art but he presented it as something that could be
modern and relevant. Anyone could just make up a story and write a little song
about anything they cared about. I would bet his (American!) operas have been
seen by many more people than even "Porgy and Bess".

Perhaps not coincidentally, Fred Rogers was also the best marketing I've ever
seen for ballet. He introduced ballet as something his friend Lynn Swann did
for fun. It was impossible to learn any old stereotypes when the first person
we see dancing is a football player.

I think I disagree with the article's implication that opera is a European art
form, and Americans have rejected it in favor of native musical theatre.
You're a bit closer with your observation that the marketing is terrible.
There's also some truth in Gelb's observation that there's "a cultural and
social rejection of opera as an art form", though I'd say most of the
performing arts are suffering today in America, not just opera.

Most of all, I suspect there simply isn't any great American opera to be
performed. I'm not even a big opera fan (I saw one dress rehearsal when I was
a kid, and I own one opera on CD), yet I can name a dozen German and Italian
operas off the top of my head. Outside of The Neighborhood of Make-Believe,
and before reading this article, I'd have had difficulty naming even one.
Where's the American Wagner, or Verdi? Probably smart enough not to call their
work an "opera", I bet.

~~~
bsder
> You're a bit closer with your observation that the marketing is terrible.

This is by design. Performance troupes rely on a very small number of
extremely wealthy patrons and so, consequently, you cater to those tastes
exclusively and you dare not risk upsetting them with something controversial.

It's one of the reasons why you so rarely hear things like the "Bernstein
Mass", for example.

It also doesn't help that concert tickets for "classical" events like this are
ferociously expensive. For a something that I may only marginally like--I'm
coughing up almost $100+. I can see one of my absolute _favorite_ artists for
less than that. And a lot of music festivals have weekend tickets that are
less than some classical thing that may only be marginally interesting.

> Probably smart enough not to call their work an "opera", I bet.

Pretty much exactly--for America it's a "musical" or "Broadway". "Hamilton"
sure seems relevant and doing well, for example. "Rent" was supposed to be a
modern "La Bohème". etc.

~~~
ken
> It also doesn't help that concert tickets for "classical" events like this
> are ferociously expensive.

That's common knowledge, I admit, but I just checked and at least in Seattle
today, it's actually backwards. Seattle Opera tickets for the upcoming "The
Turn of The Screw" (in English _and_ with subtitles, in case anyone is
worried!) are $25 to $314. The Seattle Symphony this Thursday is $22 to $122.
Those starting prices are only a couple bucks more than a movie (Cinerama:
$18.50).

It's pop music that's crazy expensive: Childish Gambino tickets for next
weekend are $114 to $589. Festivals aren't necessarily any better: Bumbershoot
tickets last month were $130 (single day) to $775.

I would say it's definitely a marketing problem when even people who might
consider going to a concert assume that tickets are several times more
expensive than they really are. $25 tickets are not aimed at 'extremely
wealthy patrons', yet SO and SS ads don't mention tickets or do anything to
dispel the myth of high prices.

