By JAMES D. WATTS JR. Scene Writer on Jun 3, 2009, at 12:24 PM Updated on 6/03 at 12:24 PM
ARTS
Kitty Roberts, who has guided Tulsa's American Theatre Company since its inception, has been named the recipient of the Mary ...
Wes Studi, whose career has included memorable performances in the films “Last of the Mohicans,” “Avatar” and “Germonino,” ...
Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko Sunday was named the winner at the 14th Van Cliburn Internationaal Piano Competition, ...
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An interesting Trans-Atlantic debate is going on between writers at the Washington Post and the Telegraph in Great Britain, over the idea of opera being an art form for people of "a certain age."
Read the story: Opera: young at art
What matters -- and what makes opera matter to audiences of any age -- is the emotional authenticity with which is it presented. Opera stories can be complete nonsense, but if every aspect of the production is focused on making the emotions of the characters on stage -- however exaggerated -- seem real and vital to an audience, then that opera is going to appeal to people of any age.
That is often the problem with highly stylized productions -- they exist to display the director's cleverness or make some superfluous comment on society or politics, rather than make the audience care about what's going on. Opera then becomes less an emotional experience and more of an intellectual one.
Opera needs to aim for the head, the heart and the gut. And sometimes, getting two out of those three means a pretty good show.
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