Katy Hamilton

Some thoughts on opera, funding, and finding audiences… 

Staying with opera and cultural attitudes, there are a few other recent stories worth throwing into the mix here. One is a debate in The Guardian from early June between Stephen Moss and Bonnie Greer: ‘Does it matter that arts audiences are white, metropolitan and middle class?’. Moss is convinced that people must find cultural activities for themselves, arguing that schoolchildren forced to sit through long operatic performances (yes, he specifically singles out opera) will only be bored and put off by the experience. Greer, on the other hand, is determined that we must find ways to engage broad audiences, old and young, with Shakespeare, opera (and shake the negative connotations of the term as a domain for the rich cognoscenti) and other art forms in order to keep our cultural heritage alive. ‘Culture is who we all are,’ she insists. ‘It must continuously be de-ossified. Because the making of it, the having of it is our birthright.’ She is passionately against culture being propped up through private philanthropy, too, a situation that she sees as allowing the rich to control artistic endeavour and favour only those projects in which they themselves are interested.

The other, which also hit the news last month but has been grumbling on ever since, is Peter Gelb’s pronouncement that opera is dying, its audiences have reached a state of ancient decrepitude, and that there is a serious danger of the Met in New York going dark within the next few years.  With characteristic energy, Norman Lebrecht has laid out in a number of reports from other major opera houses around the world that actually, tickets are selling better than ever and no other organisation appears to be suffering in this way.

Debates of this kind are always characterised by extremes – heroes and villians make for far better journalism as well as more exciting operatic plots – and it’s interesting to find the extremes of age are here brought squarely centre stage. Children do not know enough; old people are too old now to carry on supporting the art forms that their ill-informed progeny will not attend. Leaving these dramatic opposites aside for a moment, let’s look across the spectrum of would-be opera lovers. Children of course need to be encouraged to engage with as wide a range of musical and dramatic performances as possible, from learning about stories and libretti to taking part in productions themselves, engaging with some of the many excellent outreach and education projects on offer, and attending live events. So far, so good.

What about the over-18s? There’s quite a long way, after all, between school and retirement. This is where student ticket deals become important, cinema screenings broaden access, and those of us with a little – but not much – disposable income will probably need to save and deliberate before forking out on really great seats at Covent Garden. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible; but it does mean that venues and cultural commentators should be as aware of capturing the attention of the 25-65 age group. Funding participation for them isn’t sexy (children and older generation ‘health and wellbeing’ is where the money is), and yet building an opera-going culture relies on people of all ages going along.

And then we come to retirement. As one German writer has discussed this year, there is plenty of proof that the ‘old generation who like opera’ is a complete myth. There is not one single generation of grey-haired opera enthusiasts; there are lots of them. Retirement brings more time to go to daytime and evening events, more freedom to spend that hard-earned cash from the past few decades of work, and once you’re past a certain age, often a handy discount on tickets as well. That older audience is constantly being replenished as we all move towards retirement and the freedom to spend more of our days engaging with cultural pursuits.

So let’s return to the Moss/Greer debate. Does it matter than audiences are predominantly white, metropolitan and middle-class? Yes. But a little pragmatism is needed here. People engage most easily with the things they feel able to connect with most directly. Inspiring teaching can bring Shakespeare, unadulterated, to some. For others, a different route is needed, one that is predicated on an understanding that you can only engage with an audience if you take the time and trouble to meet them where they are. How long does it take them to get to the nearest opera house? What does it cost them do to so, on top of the price of a ticket? Why on earth should they be interested in an art form that tells story after story in which a good 75% of the protagonists are themselves white and/or metropolitan and/or middle-class?

Those of us fortunate enough to feel that we have a way into opera know the extraordinary profundity, beauty, and humanity that the art form can bring, regardless of our backgrounds. But for all that we might want to bang our heads against the wall when someone doesn’t seem to be able to find that potential themselves, we’re only going to show them what it can be if we actually do show them. So brush up your Shakespeare, Boito and Birtwistle. Every audience member is an advocate. And we’ve got work to do.