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The Cause of the New

In the Australian opera landscape, a world premiere of an opera is a very unusual event. Have a look at what’s programmed for 2013. Neither Opera Australia nor the four state companies are premiering any new work of substance. The Victorian Opera will premiere The Magic Pudding by Calvin Bowman, but that is a children’s opera – a format that opera companies like to use to tick the “new work” box without having to take the artistic and financial risk of producing a mainstage world premiere that is a serious statement by a composer. Companies seem to be scared of producing new work, and when they do, there is often a sense that they do so out of obligation. In some cases it even feels like the company just wants to satisfy the “new work” requirements of government funding agencies. The financial and human resources a new composition receives are often as little as half as much of what’s thrown at a lavish new Bohème or Traviata. The marketing is often apologetic, with every effort being made to take emphasis off the fact that the new work in question features new music. And it’s not just the companies; many singers…

February 15, 2013
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Making Opera Now

Not a month goes by without a story breaking somewhere around the world about an opera company in crisis. Everywhere they contend with dwindling and ageing audiences, worsening bottom lines and intense pressure from media, audiences and government to make their content more relevant to contemporary society. Opera company administrators have devised countless imaginative and elaborate schemes that attempt to solve these problems, asking themselves questions like “How can we expose more people to our product?” and “How can we strengthen the company's brand during tough economic times?”. Examples of such schemes include high-definition cinema broadcasts, outdoor events, improving the company’s online presence and so on. 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 The real problem is that the overall model on which opera companies were based in the 20th-century is itself becoming outdated.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…

February 15, 2013
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Ageists vs Youthists

Over the Christmas holidays I leafed through a pile of old Limelight magazines rereading some excellent articles I only had time to skim before. One letter in the November 2012 edition caught my eye – Gilbert Whyte of Bowral took exception to an article by the pianist Sally Whitwell singing the praises of the “late bloomer” . Gilbert thought that late bloomer was synonymous with lack of talent – “late bloomers are late for a reason, they are behind the game or lack something that others do not, distinguishing them from true geniuses who overachieve beyond their years.” Gilbert goes on to complain that “no-one wants to see an up-and-coming 30-40 something soloist on stage when someone ten years younger could be giving a superior performance.” Ouch! Gilbert is obviously a raging ageist. To be fair, when it comes to the solo world, sitting up in front of an orchestra and jumping through technical hoops, Gilbert might be right. If you haven’t got the ability and temperament to manage that stressful situation in your 20s, it’s probably too late to start at 40. Being a soloist in a concerto is like being a sportsman, more suited to young nubile runners…

February 15, 2013
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Australian Piano Idol

As a pianist, piano competitions strike fear into my heart. I was on hand for a little of last year’s Sydney International Piano Competition and waiting backstage with the competitors felt like being a guard in Marie Antoinette’s cell in the Paris Conciergerie, watching the poor woman before she was wheeled off in a cart to the guillotine. We had been expecting at least one competitor to run screaming from the building, but no one did. Most waited patiently as the stage manager with his white gloved hands wheeled out the piano of their choice and even more weirdly, checked their stool height. We knew from an attached sheet whether a pianist was sitting at 27.5 cm, or 34.2cm above sea-level. I doubt the audience could tell the difference, but this pre-stooling meant that none of the competitors had the opportunity to twiddle their perch to the correct height, thereby getting used to the stage and the environment. I have no problem with the idea of music competitions (no-one is holding a gun to the head of the competitors so they go into it with their eyes open) but must a keyboard race be so formal and old-fashioned? In the…

February 15, 2013
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Unhappy Holidays

Some years ago a Hollywood film was released with the title Four Christmases. Except in Australia it had the release title of Four Holidays.  It was only when I saw the trailer in a cinema that I realised it had anything to do with Christmas. I’m not quite sure why it had a different title in this country, but my suspicion is that the distributors thought Four Christmases would offend non-Christians four times more than one simple Happy Holidays.  If this is the case why don’t we go the whole way, and remove any mention of Christ from Christmas in case He offend? The carol Twelve Days of Christmas would become The Twelve Days of Happy Holidays, O Christmas Tree would become O Happy Holiday Tree and Handel’s Messiah will eventually be known as the He’s Just A Naughty Boy Oratorio.  Let me just state that I am in no way a practising Christian (I am as secular as they come) but I stand up for the right of Christians to practice and celebrate their religion without embarrassment of offending others in our society who believe in something else, whether it be Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism or the Giant Black Bunny…

February 15, 2013