# Why so little variety in opera performances?



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

My next major musical goal for myself is to attend an opera live. I've started searching the performances out there for one that I want to see, but I've run into a conundrum: they're all the same!!

If I want to see Carmen, La Boheme, or Rigoletto, I have about 80 options to pick from almost every opera production company in the U.S. However, if I want to see something that really peaks my interest, like Tristan und Isolde, Handel's Rinaldo or Alcina, or one of Monteverdi's works, it seems like there may only be a single performance of one of these every few years. Essentially the only composer names that I see on any of the performances are Verdi, Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini, and Rossini.

My question is: why are these select few mainstays of opera rotated through so incredibly frequently, while ignoring a huge portion of the genre? (Especially Baroque opera: my favorite by far). It seems like there are about 20-40 operas that get performed regularly, and the rest hardly see the light of day! Even if you like those works, I would think it would get boring having them performed every single year...variety is the spice of life!


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Stargazer, I think you already know answer: That's what the opera companies believe the audience want to see, and they have the box office figures to back it up. What's wrong with Carmen, La Boheme and Rigoletto if you haven't seen them before? All of these regularly performed opera are worth seeing.

In Europe it's rather more varied. I wouldn't remain so interested in opera but for the sheer variety I've seen. There are probably more operas being performed than you suppose, but you may need to travel. In fact I view opera-going and travel as companion activities. Travelling to a new city and enjoying two (or more) nights of live music is great fun and sometimes a bit of an adventure too.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

In fact, I think that the variety in the US, while indeed lesser than in Europe, it's nonetheless quite interesting.

Going to Operabase, and selecting operas to be staged from today to the end of 2016, in the US, you get this list:

http://operabase.com/oplist.cgi?id=...x=0&is=&by=&sel=&loc=usa&near=0&full=N&sort=C

that is not that bad, indeed.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Great link schigolch. There are usually some interesting world premieres in the USA. Seems to take an age for them to come to Europe.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Your question reminds me of non-opera loving friends who remark, "haven't you already seen that opera? Why would you want to see it again and again?"
Every performance, every singer, and every new production brings new and interesting (sometimes better/sometimes worse) enlightening of the work. It's always challenging to hear a new singer's interpretation of a role and often brings new concepts missed in past performances.
Obviously these operas are the ones audiences most want to see and companies are not stupid. They're in it for the money, not just the art. Otherwise, they would not be able to continue to produce works.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

The reason why some operas are performed often is because they are the most popular and in many cases the best. Some operas are staged each ten years because during these ten years new people have come and want to see these operas because they are the most famous. Therefore it is perfectly fine with one or two popular operas every season.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

If Tristan is not performed that it is probably because the lead roles are so demanding few can sing them.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I was thinking about this the other day, because right now Virginia Opera (my nearest opera company) is doing Offenbach's _Orpheus in the Underworld_, which I've never seen. I would have gone out of curiosity, only I was reluctant to spend so much money on an "operetta" that I might not end up liking. I think my situation illustrates why most US opera companies, especially now that the economy is so bad, are doing mostly the "safe, sure-thing" operas.

Now, if _Orpheus_ had been the only production of interest for the entire season, then I would have gone. But as it is I've already got tickets to several other productions this season.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Perhaps look for some smaller-budget companies. From my experience they generally tend to be able to put on more varied repertoire and build a reputation from that, leaving the Bohèmes and Rigolettos to the bigger companies. Next year I hope to see Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts among other things. In the recent past I've also seen Giulio Cesare, The Rake's Progress, Nixon in China, What Next?, Albert Herring and even stagings of Bach's secular cantatas which were awesome. They premiere a new opera each season. In other parts of my country, the smaller companies have also put on premiere performances of Glass operas, lesser known operas of Donizetti (I mean, he wrote more than 70!!!), more world premieres from local composers etc. 

Smaller companies seem to be the way to go.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Perhaps look for some smaller-budget companies. From my experience they generally tend to be able to put on more varied repertoire and build a reputation from that, leaving the Bohèmes and Rigolettos to the bigger companies. Next year I hope to see Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts among other things. In the recent past I've also seen Giulio Cesare, The Rake's Progress, Nixon in China, What Next?, Albert Herring and even stagings of Bach's secular cantatas which were awesome. They premiere a new opera each season. In other parts of my country, the smaller companies have also put on premiere performances of Glass operas, lesser known operas of Donizetti (I mean, he wrote more than 70!!!), more world premieres from local composers etc.
> 
> Smaller companies seem to be the way to go.


I suspect your home country is Australia? I too will see the Thomson next year, and did see the works you mention.
In fact I too recently posted in praise of the initiative and adventure of small companies.
Are you me in disguise?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Steatopygous said:


> I suspect your home country is Australia? I too will see the Thomson next year, and did see the works you mention.
> In fact I too recently posted in praise of the initiative and adventure of small companies.
> Are you me in disguise?


Melbourne, Australia. Yeah. One company I wish to see become more well known is Chamber Made Opera, an absolutely tiny company who are incredibly adventurous!


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Stargazer, it depends on which opera companies you patronize . Unfortunately, many of the regional opera houses in America tend to stick to the same old audience favorites such as Cav and Pag , 
Traviata, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly , Faust , Aida , Le Nozze di Figaro,
Carmen, etc , so I suppose you don't live anywhere near New York, where the Met has been presenting a remarkably wide variety of operas ranging from Handel , Mozart and Gluck to John Adams and Nico Muhly and Thomas Ades .
So if you are ever able to visit New York , you are in for an operatic treat ! This season they are doing Bizet's Pearl Fishers for the first time in a century , and Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, and Maria Stuarda for example , and this is one of the most conservative seasons in recent years , unfortunately .
Within the past ten seasons they have done things like Prince Igor, The Nose by Shostakovich & his Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk , Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, Verdi's Attila, Janacek's "From the House of the Dead , " Nixon in China ,Doctor Atomic and The Death of Klinghoffer, by John Adams ,
The Tempest by Thomas Ades , and Two Boys by Nico Muhly, Iphigenie en Tauride by Gluck ,
and other interesting fare .
I subscribe to Opera News magazine, and this month they have their annual preview of the opera season , with the schedules & repertoire of opera houses all over Europe, America and elsewhere , and the sheer diversity is absolutely amazing !
Everything from operas by Monteversi, Handel, Rameau , Gluck, and Mozart to the latest works by contemporary opera composers . The list is chock full of rarely performed but interesting operas by so many different composers .
The diversity is far greater in Europe than America, but there are still lots of interesting operas being done all over the U.S.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Melbourne, Australia. Yeah. One company I wish to see become more well known is Chamber Made Opera, an absolutely tiny company who are incredibly adventurous!


That is true. They are very courageous and innovative. 
On Friday I am going to Lyric Opera's performance of Stella by G.w. Marshall Hall. It is, apparently, the first opera set in Melbourne. Written 1909. Another small company with some really intelligent leadership.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

superhorn said:


> Stargazer, it depends on which opera companies you patronize . Unfortunately, many of the regional opera houses in America tend to stick to the same old audience favorites such as Cav and Pag ,
> Traviata, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly , Faust , Aida , Le Nozze di Figaro,
> Carmen, etc , so I suppose you don't live anywhere near New York, where the Met has been presenting a remarkably wide variety of operas ranging from Handel , Mozart and Gluck to John Adams and Nico Muhly and Thomas Ades .
> So if you are ever able to visit New York , you are in for an operatic treat ! This season they are doing Bizet's Pearl Fishers for the first time in a century , and Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, and Maria Stuarda for example , and this is one of the most conservative seasons in recent years , unfortunately .
> ...


I am going on a musical pilgrimage to NY early next year, and certainly plan to take in four or five operas, including Otello, Simone Boccanegra and Elektra, plus Haitink, NYPO in Mahler 9. Very excited.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Steatopygous said:


> I am going on a musical pilgrimage to NY early next year, and certainly plan to take in four or five operas, including Otello, Simone Boccanegra and Elektra, plus Haitink, NYPO in Mahler 9. Very excited.


That's the way to do it! Consecutive opera nights compound the pleasure.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Stargazer said:


> My next major musical goal for myself is to attend an opera live. I've started searching the performances out there for one that I want to see, but I've run into a conundrum: they're all the same!!
> 
> If I want to see Carmen, La Boheme, or Rigoletto, I have about 80 options to pick from almost every opera production company in the U.S. However, if I want to see something that really peaks my interest, like Tristan und Isolde, Handel's Rinaldo or Alcina, or one of Monteverdi's works, it seems like there may only be a single performance of one of these every few years. Essentially the only composer names that I see on any of the performances are Verdi, Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini, and Rossini.
> 
> My question is: why are these select few mainstays of opera rotated through so incredibly frequently, while ignoring a huge portion of the genre? (Especially Baroque opera: my favorite by far). It seems like there are about 20-40 operas that get performed regularly, and the rest hardly see the light of day! Even if you like those works, I would think it would get boring having them performed every single year...variety is the spice of life!


We have this problem also in Canada, where no cities outside of Toronto attempt the repertoire you mention. First off, Wagner, Handel, and Monteverdi are quite long opera and therefore fabulously expensive to stage. Next, they require specialized singers, your run of the mill opera singer simply doesn't have Wagner, Handel, and Monteverdi in their repertoire. Last, as they have a more niche draw than your Puccini or Verdi, they require quite a large metropolitan area to support such an effort, 4-5 million would seem the case in N. America.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Couchie said:


> We have this problem also in Canada, where no cities outside of Toronto attempt the repertoire you mention. First off, Wagner, Handel, and Monteverdi are quite long opera and therefore fabulously expensive to stage. Next, they require specialized singers, your run of the mill opera singer simply doesn't have Wagner, Handel, and Monteverdi in their repertoire. Last, as they have a more niche draw than your Puccini or Verdi, they require quite a large metropolitan area to support such an effort, 4-5 million would seem the case in N. America.


I have to agree.

I searched performances of operas by Richard Wagner in Canada on operabase.

Siegfried in Toronto

Searching Spain a country with the same population as Canada.

Götterdämmerung Barcelona
Flying Dutchman La Coruna
Das Liebesverbot and Parsifal in Madrid
Consertant performance of Tannhäusser in Malaga

Operabase is not complete especially outside Europe so something might me missing.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Sloe said:


> I have to agree.
> 
> I searched performances of operas by Richard Wagner in Canada on operabase.
> Siegfried in Toronto
> ...


You've not sold Canada to me. On the bright side you get to see baseball and ice hockey games, and I don't. Sort of joking but...

The question is what is a reasonable expectation of a non-European country to support what is essentially a European art-form. I'm not sure of any non-European country has a similar per population opera program as most European countries. I can't see it changing.

I've just now got back to my hotel in Estonia (pop. 1.25 mil) where they have a full time opera/ballet house. (Cardillac by Hindemith) And yes, they do Wagner too.

The solution: Take a week vacation to somewhere in Europe. See operas every night. Have a wonderful time! Do the same next year. Cheaper than a week in NYC, I'm sure.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> You've not sold Canada to me. On the bright side you get to see baseball and ice hockey games, and I don't. Sort of joking but...
> 
> The question is what is a reasonable expectation of a non-European country to support what is essentially a European art-form. I'm not sure of any non-European country has a similar per population opera program as most European countries. I can't see it changing.
> 
> ...


I don´t live in Canada but I felt for doing for checking up to see if what is said is true.
In an ethnic sense is Canada a European country.


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