Is opera really an elitist art form?

Is opera really an elitist art form?

It ain't over until the fat lady sings.

For more than four hundred years operas have been magnificent spectacles that have communicated the colours of the human condition and have created cherishable experiences for people all over the globe. In spite of opera’s spell bounding nature and ability to stun its audience with enchanting arias such as Violetta’s “Sempre libera” from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata and the stunning “E lucevan le stele” from Puccini’s Tosca, statistics show that the number of people who attend the opera has gone down considerably due to its "elitist" stereotype.

I must say, before I continue, that there was a time when I too listened to all of those stereotypical comments e.g "only snobs go to operas" or "operas are old and no longer current" and I must express how I feel as though these stereotypes play a huge role in the decrease of audience members at opera houses today.  To put this into perspective, according to the statistics of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden only 40% of the audiences attending performances were under the age of 45 in the 2011-2012 season, indicating that opera audiences will only continue to decline in the future as new generations form. In addition to this, as shown by the graph of the Metropolitan (Met) Opera's revenue in 2016, almost half of the opera houses revenue is made up of donations from opera lovers around the world. However, as new generations move in this number will surely begin to decrease as opera audiences begin to decline in number due to the lack of people in younger generations taking interest in the art form. An article written in 2014 by the New York Times also wrote that the iconic Metropolitan Opera House in New York sold just 79% of its seats in its 2012-13 season which in turn resulted in a loss of $6.1 million over the course of the two years. The New York Times also wrote in a more recent post that the percentage of ticket box-office sales for the Met Opera House decreased yet again to 67% in its 2016-17 season. This growing decrease of attendance in two of the world's most famous opera houses show how the younger generations of today are not taking to opera and giving it the chance it needs to keep it from the route to extinction.

To me the word "elitist" being associated with opera implies that it excludes anyone who doesn't have caviar on toast for their breakfast or who hasn't studied a masters degree in Latin at Eton or Cambridge. The truth is that opera companies all over the world very much want to expand on their audiences and reach out to people, no matter where they come from or what their backgrounds are. It is true that at one time opera was an elitist art form and only those of the higher class would go to watch it. However we now live in a very different, socially mixed society where anyone can go to a concert or performance, whether it be a pop concert in Wembley Stadium, a musical on the West end or an opera at the Royal Opera House. Anything is possible nowadays! To show you that opera companies are willing to reach out to a wider audience, there are now screenings of operas in cinemas all over the place from opera houses such as The Metropolitan Opera House in New York to The Royal Opera house in London that allow for anyone to have the opera experience, no matter who they are. These screenings allow for people not to have to travel for hours at a time and spend thousands to just watch an opera. This new accessible and affordable trend of appreciating opera in local cinemas has grown tremendously and in the case of opera houses such the Met, live opera performances are being streamed in "more than 2,200 screens in over 70 countries across the globe" according to their website. What's more, there are now programs such as The Met's "HD Live in school program" which bring live opera performances to schools all over American to keep the art form current and up-to-date with future generations.                                                    

However, it is not just opera houses that are changing their ways to make opera more versatile and approachable to society today but also off-West end societies such as the King's Head Theatre in London and the OperaUpClose opera company. Societies such as these are spread across the country and more often than not produce high quality, affordable operas in English which are re-imaged to fit into the society we live in today. An example of one of these would be the King's Head Theatre company's production of Puccini's La Bohème I went to watch in January at the beginning of this year. The performance was a fantastic way of approaching a new, younger audience as it was performed fully in English with an orchestra of one piano and one cello and was set in London today.  This not only allowed for the younger members of the audience to get a taste for the opera and its beautiful music but also created an unintimidating atmosphere in which they could appreciate the performance without feeling out of place in the audience of a so called "elitist" art form. 

This issue of opera being constantly prejudged because of the stereotypes that unknowing individuals create in their minds is an arts issue that must be modified. I am a seventeen year old teenager who has had her eyes opened to the brilliance of opera and aspires to take to the stage one day and share this beautiful art form with the rest of the world, no matter who is sitting in the audience. If people continue to believe these illogical stereotypes and refuse to explore the eye-opening nature of opera, it will surely die out and not only prevent the future aspiring opera singers of the next generation such as myself from fulfilling our passions but also prevent the millions of people in generations to come from ever having the remarkable experience of seeing the unique creativity and excitement that only opera can truly offer. 

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References

• About us. London: OperaUpClose.
• http://www.operaupclose.com/aboutus/
• Cooper, M. (2014, January 28). Met Opera Reports Falling Attendance. The New York Times .
• https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/arts/music/met-opera-reports-falling-attendance.html
• Education at the Met. New York: Met Opera House.
• https://www.metopera.org/Discover/Education/
• Harmful Stereotypical Images Of Opera In Popular Culture. (2010, March). Talk Classical .
• https://www.talkclassical.com/20025-harmful-stereotypical-images-opera.html
• HD Live in schools. New York: Met Opera House.
• https://www.metopera.org/Discover/Education/HD-Live-in-Schools/
• Metropolitan Opera Attendance: Slightly Better, Still Bad. (2017, May 15). The New York Times .
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-attendance-slightly-better-still-bad.html
• Shipman, C. (2013 ). Royal Opera House in numbers: Annual Review 2011/12 released. London: Royal opera house.
• http://www.roh.org.uk/news/royal-house-in-numbers-annual-review-201112-released
• Wilson, A. (2014, February 11). We need to move beyond the cliches about 'elitist' opera. The Guardian .
• https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/feb/11/elitist-opera-cliches-alexandra-wilson