The future of opera is inclusive
Who cares about opera?
The opera repertoire is full of riches but they are sometimes entangled with problematic stories.
O Tempo (Somos Nós)
Culture thrives when people care about it. They care because culture delights, intrigues inspires and moves them. It speaks to them.
Is that still true of opera? Some people love opera, but many do not give it a thought. Its stories, style and language seem old-fashioned and remote to them; perhaps they see it as expensive and unwelcoming. Opera is still a cornerstone of European culture, but it’s easy to pass a cornerstone without giving it a glance. It doesn’t have to be like this.
Opera—sung drama—has been changing ever since it was invented.
In fact, invention is at its heart—new instruments and orchestras, new stories and aesthetics, new machineries of spectacle. Opera has always been at the leading edge of creation, though it sometimes forgets that in its comfortable middle age.
Today’s Europe is recognising its historic and increasing diversity. It’s people don’t live or work like their grandparents—they don’t think like their parents. Digital technology is second nature, and they create and share stories in a new culture.
Opera can speak to them, it must speak to them, and that means changing too, rediscovering the spirit of invention that breathes life into art. Then everyone can care about opera.
