Terfel's walk-out of the ROH Ring has got me thinking - once again- about the state of opera at the moment.

It truly is depressing: the 'star system' seems to have strengthened over the years, with managements bending over backwards to accommodate the passing whims of 'box office' singers.  But what's the point of all this if the singers don't actually deign to perform?

What has made things worse is populism and the sheer dumbing down of the 'market': years ago, a singer at the top of his/her profession could make a more than decent living shuttling between the opera houses of the world and making a few recordings.  OK, so operatic recordings now seem to be out of the picture.....they have been replaced by populist 'cross-over' albums and arena gigs. 

When a singer like Terfel emerges - one who has the vocal goods but is also gifted with a charismatic/gladhanding personality - there are two audiences competing for his/her favours.  It may not come as a surprise that Terfel - a family man with three young children and an avowed fondness for home - should prefer securing a financial future for himself and his family over the little matter of becoming the major (only?) echt Wagnerian singer of the twenty-first century.

Personally, I think the opera world should heave a wistful sigh and let Terfel go on his way, then set about looking for another singer who can sing his roles, but who actually WANTS to as well.

This is a big issue, and applies not only to opera but the whole gamut of "live performance" activities from ballet to theatre to contemporary dance to classical concerts too....   the public isn't content with good performances, it wants to see celebrities perform.  In fact it is more important that they "celebrities" than that they are any good (although I will not name those who I think are over-rated).

There are half-a-dozen Wotans around the moment, all of whom are at the top of their profession.  (To name just one I've seen "live" in the role, Mikhail Kit from the Mariinsky's RING.  If you don't like him, then Albert Dohmen has just sung the entire cycle at Bayreuth this year, Anders Loretzson has just sung Wotan in Ravenna, Greer Grimsley has just done a superb Dutchman in Seattle and seems certain to look at Wotan in the near future).  The problem is that the ROH's financial model is predicated on an audience who will pay top dollar to see "celebrity name" performers.   I wish I could say it's because they know the ins and outs of the role of Wotan and what is required in terms of career preparation to perform it.  Sadly I think it's because a large proportion of those for whom tickets are bought (I use the passive tense purposely) haven't a clue, and they have heard the names of Domingo and Terfel somewhere before.  

Not sure that this is really new - there was a time when audiences flocked to see diva X taking "her" performance round the world (complete with costume and entourage) with the rest of the production being no more than a supporting act.  And Handel's leading castrati would surely have given today's celebs a run when it came to sheer preening ego ...

But the point remains ... people going to see "names" rather than the performance, part of the general market culture of our times.  I wonder whether opera as a more serious and democratic art - whether in the form of Wagner turning out the lights in the theatre, of Lillian Baylis' vision of opera for the people, or the Powerhouse years at the ENO - is the exception rather than the rule (although I'd agree absolutely that it is something worth fighting for).

He's already done it according to this:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WireStory?id=2980104&page=2

There's a bad review online, too.  I saw it in my cofee break but I can't find it now and my lunch break's too precious to spend too much of it searching again!


It might be something that's more pronounced here than elsewhere.  There seems to be a buoyant opera tradition in Germany still; and tiny Belgium probably has more viable opera houses than England - or even than the whole of the UK.  I wonder if the German system would ever take off here, though.  For one thing I believe the local governments subsidise it to an extent that wouldn't be tolerated here.  But there's also the tendency you mention of people who have little love for the art going mainly to see star performers; which seems to be less of a problem in Germany, with the possible exception of centres like Berlin & Munich.  Then there's the problem of people who do love the art but whose expectations are impossibly high.  Would they turn up to see the honest productions which, for all their flaws, delight the likes of me when I find myself in Essen or Halle?  I'd love to have the same choice of operas within 50 miles of Liverpool as I'd have if I lived in Duisburg, but somehow I don't see it happening.

Here's the bad review I mentioned, harpy128  On closer inspection it seems to be several years old, which suggests Mr Held might be growing nicely into the role.

http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=22770&highlight=1&highlightterms=&lstKeywords=