Opera in the Cinema, or Opera versus the Cinema?

[Peter Tregear]

HERE is an interesting article in today's New York Times--suggesting, once again, that there is very little in the way of technological progress that does not also carry something of a down-side.

Personally, I think nothing beats live performances of opera, though I also cannot deny the essentially 'operatic' power of the cinematic experience.

But is the quiet message here that we in the the traditional Classical Music world just have to stop treating our beloved performance culture as a museum culture? Time to move on? Or do we need musical luddities now more than ever?

[Martin Le Poidevin]

Peter asks: But is the quiet message here that we in the the traditional Classical Music world just have to stop treating our beloved performance culture as a museum culture?

Here's controversial. Shouldn't we be hoping that, in fact, a new genre will grow out of this - call it the 'screen opera' as a working title - which is equal or greater in stature to the old, museum forms? And the good news is that it will be our music, based on our culture, using our technology.

Sure, composers of the new genre can refer back to the old style (staged opera) as artists go to art galleries to study the old masters, but really where it's at should be the new form.

Time to move on, as Peter says.

[Zeitschichten]

As I see it, the problem with cinema screenings or live broadcasts of operas is that they endorse the false assumption that live performances of opera are too expensive to attend and that therefore the common man has to attend the surrogate events in cinemas and at open air screenings.

My observations are based entirely on my experiences in Germany, where opera performances are actually quite cheap (starting at $5, with average ticket prices around $30). Often politicians use public screenings as publicity events for teir own political agendas, suggesting that they open the world of classical music to those who could otherwise not attend. This of course is misleading, since in most cases opera performances are much cheaper than pop concerts or sports events.

I wrote a short article on this topic at my web magazine Zeitschichten.com. Unfortunately the article is in German, but I am posting the link nevertheless.

http://www.zeitschichten.com/2007/05/20/oper-fur-alle/

[Randolph]

Heck! Even the cinema prices are $22 in Sydney, Australia. Forget about opera at the Sydney Opera House. You'll be slugged anything from $70 to $200 depending on production. Reading surtitles is out if you can only afford the cheaper prices. Might as well bring the libretto and glance occasionally at the stage!