Is opera dead or can it redefine itself?

“People have been worried about opera’s demise for about four centuries now,” says Dr Caitlin Vincent, Lecturer in Creative Industries at the School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne.

“It’s a very old art form. We first saw western opera emerge in the 1600s in Italy and in the 21st century we’re coming across the issue that opera is really defined by its museum work - the greatest hits of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries - that are still the mainstay of opera companies worldwide.”

Dr Vincent explains that in order to maintain the tradition of these works, some companies are resorting to problematic and outdated practices like blackface or yellowface makeup.

“This is where you start to get a rift between different kinds of audiences, between the really traditionalist audiences who say opera should be done exactly the way as it was first intended to be done and between more modern, progressive audiences that say, we love opera but it needs to be updated in order to reflect a modern-day society,” she says.

So how can we interpret these works in a way that does not perpetuate harmful stereotypes or cultural appropriation?

One of the popular and successful strategies is education, Dr Vincent says.

“Companies program problematic works like Madam Butterfly or The Mikado alongside educational initiatives that are designed to contextualise the works, framing it as a historical artefact and giving you the history that you need.”

“The other thing about cultural appropriation, is who are the people who have been hired to interpret these works on stage? Do they represent diverse viewpoints, do they have any connection to the culture that is being portrayed on stage?

“What we really need is to try to embed support for emerging composers and mid-career librettists to promote talent in Australia, the United States and the UK to actually cultivate those voices of the next generation.

“Otherwise, we will just continue to program Madam Butterfly and Turandot forever, until eventually we can’t anymore because they’re too problematic.”

Episode recorded: June 1, 2021.

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath.

Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis.

Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath.

Banner: In the Box by Mary Cassatt (Photo by Francis G. Mayer/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images