# Is opera's business model upside down?



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

The title refers to how opera houses weigh the importance of its creatives and how it influences the choice of productions.

I stumbled across this article from a couple of years ago. http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/blog/making-opera-now

The second paragraph reads...

_While these audience development schemes do no harm, they skirt the central issue, which is much deeper. The real problem is that the overall model on which opera companies were based in the 20th-century is itself becoming outdated. This model involves a creative hierarchy in which the voice, singers and roles are placed at the top, followed by repertoire and composers, with the production and directors coming last. This hierarchy leads to a curatorial priority of choosing operas that show off singers. Repertoire choices are often made according to what suits the next famous singer flying into town. Whether the opera chosen is an excellent piece of music and a compelling piece of theatre are secondary concerns._

Are opera houses putting too much emphasis on the star tenor etc?


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Hmmm... 

Well for one, different opera houses have different business models - which is as it should be. The author seems to be advocating a one-size-fits-all solution, and one that happens to suite his own personal tastes.

I also suspect that the author is writing from an Australia-centric point of view. I don't know much about the Australian opera market, but if Opera Australia's stultifyingly conservative season (Puccini/Verdi/Puccini/Verdi/Verdi/Mozart) is anything to go by, he certainly seems to have a valid gripe about the state of opera down under. Are they the only game in town?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Directors coming_ last_? That's a good one!


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I think opera houses have a good variety.
I typical season might be like this.
A famous Italian opera
A famous non Italian opera
A less famous older opera
A modern or contemporary opera.

I think this is fine.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I wish that American opera houses focused more on doing Regietheater productions instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regietheater

Often with the Utah Opera productions, I see that the director's vision isn't always the best but the singing seems to be a priority. I prefer a balance here instead.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Very interesting article, thank you for posting this.

I don't know how Komische Oper Berlin is doing but English National Opera is struggling.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Here is the latest review for the Utah Opera's Cosi Fan Tutte:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865623630/A-most-subtle-comedy-Utah-Opera-shares-lessons-of-life-love-in-Mozarts-Cosi-Fan-Tutte.html?pg=all


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Figleaf said:


> Directors coming_ last_? That's a good one!


Heh! I know! Even in the relatively conservative US market, I've seen a clear trend of directors getting top billing or at the very least equal billing with singers. This editorial seems to be an illustration of that old joke: "If the doctor told me I only had a year to live, I'd move to __________ because they are 10 years behind the times over there."


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Albert7 said:


> I wish that American opera houses focused more on doing Regietheater productions instead.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regietheater
> 
> Often with the Utah Opera productions, I see that the director's vision isn't always the best but the singing seems to be a priority. I prefer a balance here instead.


I have never seen an opera performance in real life that have been staged in the time and place it is set in.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Sloe said:


> I have never seen an opera performance in real life that have been staged in the time and place it is set in.


I have and when those productions are done rather well then I really enjoy those too . I like both traditional and postmodern productions a lot in fact.

Just give me something challenging to work with.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Cavaradossi said:


> Hmmm...
> 
> Well for one, different opera houses have different business models - which is as it should be. The author seems to be advocating a one-size-fits-all solution, and one that happens to suite his own personal tastes.
> 
> I also suspect that the author is writing from an Australia-centric point of view. I don't know much about the Australian opera market, but if Opera Australia's stultifyingly conservative season (Puccini/Verdi/Puccini/Verdi/Verdi/Mozart) is anything to go by, he certainly seems to have a valid gripe about the state of opera down under. Are they the only game in town?


It's a fair point. I wonder if this typical for cities with only one opera house. Over here, the Bastille really only plays the warhorses but different houses have their own niche...baroque/comic etc. You still have a choice but you have to change venues.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I subscribe to two German opera magazines, and over the years, I've noticed how many of the theaters in the German-speaking countries have General Directors (Intendanten) who are stage directors by profession. Could that explain the significant number of non-traditional productions seen at these houses?


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## Retired (Feb 15, 2015)

> I have never seen an opera performance in real life that have been staged in the time and place it is set in.


Often an expensive proposition...especially when a large cast/chorus are involved.

$$$$$ dictate the business to a very large extent.

I don't agree with the OP...opera is about singing and singers...like the Kentucky Derby is about horses. You can talk up the back story all you want but it really comes down to what happens on the track.

IMO...What opera really needs are new works...works that send folks home with music they can humm...a story that hits home...but all that is expensive and risky. It also needs singers that will take risks....vocally and dramatically. We seem to be in the age of "perfect" singing...and unless a voice is one of the handful of rarities, something else needs to happen on the stage to hold our attention.

Actually, I think the singer has become less important over the past 40 years. When you look at the number of vinyl releases of artists decades ago, I would argue that singers are less important today. We used to see opera stars on Johnny Carson - William Walker made his name on TV - would he today? My impression is that few singers become a "staple" in the business..rather there is a constant flow of new arrivals. The business thrives on the expectation of the new sensation....sort of like restaurants. It is the nature of art. And there is a lot more "art" in today's more mobile, international society.

I also think that the opera houses with 2500-4000 seats, while potentially economically necessary, ultimately erode the intimacy that so often makes opera unique (or any live music venue). Over the years the most satisfying productions I took part in were in smaller houses where there was time for rehearsals and a focus on making music theater.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Retired said:


> Often an expensive proposition...especially when a large cast/chorus are involved.
> 
> $$$$$ dictate the business to a very large extent.
> 
> .


That depends.
Regietheater can be rather extravagant too.
See Albert7´s picture from Cossi Fan Tutte and imagine all kinds of machines going on and other extravagant features.

I agree that the singers are not that important yes they are important without singers there would not be an opera but people go to see an opera to see and hear the opera not to see and hear a certain singer unless it is someone very famous.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I suspect that the non-traditional stagings is a product of repeating the warhorses every 18mths-2yrs.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Albert7 said:


> Here is the latest review for the Utah Opera's Cosi Fan Tutte:
> 
> http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865623630/A-most-subtle-comedy-Utah-Opera-shares-lessons-of-life-love-in-Mozarts-Cosi-Fan-Tutte.html?pg=all


This production is really not Regietheater. Although the setting has been updated to the 1920s, the staging is still essentially traditional in that it doesn't tinker with the characters' personalities and (as far as I could tell from the review), doesn't turn the opera's plot on its head. A Regietheater treatment would turn the sisters' home into a House of Ill Repute with Despina as the madam and the two young gents into the ladies' customers . . . and would end with one of the sisters pulling out a shotgun and killing everybody. :lol:


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Couac Addict said:


> I suspect that the non-traditional stagings is a product of repeating the warhorses every 18mths-2yrs.


I wonder if this is true.
It seems more as were they only stage warhorses there is more common with traditional stagings than the opera houses with more varied repertoire.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Sloe said:


> I wonder if this is true.
> It seems more as were they only stage warhorses there is more common with traditional stagings than the opera houses with more varied repertoire.


It's the norm here...maybe not elsewhere.


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## Vlad (Feb 23, 2012)

Sloe said:


> I think opera houses have a good variety.
> I typical season might be like this.
> A famous Italian opera
> A famous non Italian opera
> ...


This is what I see with my home company. An article written by the CEO indicated that they need a famous opera or two to bring in an audience. It's the opera or composer name recognition that fills seats, which is a chief concern. Engaging the community is I think a higher priority for them than the singer.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Vlad said:


> This is what I see with my home company. An article written by the CEO indicated that they need a famous opera or two to bring in an audience. It's the opera or composer name recognition that fills seats, which is a chief concern. Engaging the community is I think a higher priority for them than the singer.


People should have the opportunity to see the most popular and loved operas. Unless one lives in a very big city with several opera houses or one opera house that stage a lot of operas every season one have to wait for maybe ten years or so even to see the most famous operas being staged. Then yes there are those who travel around the world to see certain operas but not everyone consider it worth it or have the opportunity for it. An opera house should both give people what they know they want and what they don´t know what they want. They should stage both the most popular, the neglected and forgotten and premiere of operas.


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## papsrus (Oct 7, 2014)

New Yorker: "A Fight at the Opera; Peter Gelb has a bold vision. Can the Met afford it?"

In a nutshell: Putting expensive stage productions before the music (and the health of the singers in some instances -- falls resulting from elaborate stage machinery) can lead to donor and boardroom dissatisfaction, plunging box office receipts, threats of bankruptcy, cuts in everyone's pay and general unhappiness for all.

The music should come first, IMO. All else follows from it. When that equation is altered, bad things seem to happen.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

I would actually rather go see an obscure opera that was gorgeously staged in traditional time period/dress (doesn't matter what time period; if it's set in contemporary times, obviously, I would prefer contemporary dress!). I would be less enthusiastic about seeing a warhorse opera staged "experimentally."


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## Retired (Feb 15, 2015)

Here in the US, the Board of an opera organization selects on the basis of the available audience and the opinion/likes of the primary donors. Public monies fund less that 10% of the arts budgets. The "top 40" are going to play repeatedly in the regional venues....works that are known or easily "accessible". Outreach programs are a large part of regional companies. Taking Janacek's "Aus einem Totenhaus" to the local schools is a non starter. Its a business. Folks will always buy Campbell's Chicken Noodle....don't expect to fatten the receipts with Pepperpot (oddly enough made with tripe). Even in the provinces, good directors can build an audience for the riskier projects, but it best be successful.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

When 100 or so operas a year are available to you, you get tired of chicken soup very quickly. I understand how that would be different for cities with limited opera seasons.


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