Modernising Classics Mayou Trikerioti, 6 June 2015 Session provoked by Yulia Shtern Attending: John La Bouchardiere, Sarah Booth, Emma Black, Manuel Fajord, Stephen ?, Catherine Kontz, Jane Eve Shaughte, Mayou Trikerioti, Tim Lenkiewicz - modernizing for the sake of modernization? vs classical staging - is one allowed to change the words & music when modernising or is it just the set and costume and that makes it “ok”? so that lead to: - can one take this further, ie. a modern compose re-composing? // parallel to theatre/Shakespeare being abridged to 60min for kids. that you cannot “cut” the music & make it work musically and narrative (there was no composer in the group at the time to help on this) - modern audiences used to 90min films/plays - Opera driven by ideas not narrative nowdays - music education problem = embracing music can maybe lead to the ability to modernise. - Most opera is from the dead vs theatre that is a more live form, with new writing produceed all the time. - what the critics expect and what the audience expects / are we caged in that premise and cannot move forward, is this a ball and chain? - we should ask WHY are you doing this piece now? - do people “excuse” non-politically correct narratives in opera more so than in theatre? (ex.Cosi) - is the solution to write new opera “inspired by…” - can we look at the non politically correct without judging it, as “political correctness” can also lead to everything being transformed flat? That is the way it was written. - musical education many people have never been to an opera -lack of understanding of opera -one day opera houses should be free? - make the theatre space more socially accessible (ENO cafes meetings etc) -modernise because it enriches the story or don't if it's not. HOWEVER who can be the judge of that? - breaking the mould in order to have a career as a director or designer = a pressure that can be counter-productive. - new opera = fear of the unknown. - is the brand-name “opera” a problem? – accessibility - value - you pay more therefore it is good - it costs a lot of money to produce. - opera houses opening doors (occasionally to people that never watch opera +have £5 tickets. - opera companies going into receiving houses don't know what their audiences as they cannot get info from box offices. plus people are over surveyed and don't want to answer questions. -opera should be for everyone Tags: accessibility, Audiences, audiences, Education, modernising, elitism, education, prices, Elitism