Archives - Spring 2023
Note from Will:
Since our last syllabus went out, the New York opera world has had a major development to absorb: the Metropolitan Opera has announced the biggest change in our lifetimes in its repertory and the dimensions of its season.
As I looked for topics to present this spring, I realized more and more that this is a moment for an in-depth look at our city's operatic life in historical perspective. So this series is more thematic than our usual -- and in my opinion it's the most important semester we have had.
I'm profoundly optimistic about the future of opera. But optimism requires realism, and so I think challenges and opportunities alike need clear-eyed analysis. I hope you will want to join me in this "deep dive," and I hope you'll encourage friends who care about the arts to join us as well. I promise to make it entertaining at the same time--there is a lot to celebrate in New York's operatic past AND future.
March 21 New York, Europe, and The World: Where Things Stand
A survey of our city’s unique operatic history, with musical highlights, in the context of the wider world and a sober look at statistics and economics.
March 28 The Public
Who are we, what do we want, and who’s coming next? The demographics of operagoing and the formation of public tastes. (With a quirky side-tour of amateur performance, operatic parody, and “fandom.”)
April 4 Beyond the Canon: The New-Opera Challenge
The Metropolitan has made a bold commitment to new work, as critics have implored in vain for decades. What will success look like? What will it take to get there? (With emphasis on The Champion, opening April 10)
April 18 Performances vs. Productions
The Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) played La bohème on the same sets every year from 1898 to 1961. Today we only rarely tolerate the same visuals for a decade. Progress or problem? (With a visual and aural survey of some landmarks in production history.)
April 25 Living with Legacies
In the era that gave us opera’s canonical works, the only way to experience them was to go to the theater. Today, more operas than we could ever see in a lifetime are available with a few clicks, and the great performers of a century are infinitely present. Thrilling, but how to cope?
May 2 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Who and How?
Artists have always tilted to the political left. In an America divided as never before along political lines, this age-old fact has taken on a tremendous new importance. (With an aural history of BIPOC participation in opera from the American Civil War to the present.)
May 16 Beyond the Canon: The Age of Revivals
Starting in the 1950s, opera houses began to do something they had never done before: reaching into history for works that had come and gone. That now accounts for at least half of what we perform. Again the question: progress or problem? (With musical highlights from history-making revivals.)
May 23 Make Our Garden Grow: The Paths Forward
The pandemic interruption of 2020-2022 has intensified perennial opera-world questions. Was it a temporary setback? an accelerator? a breaking-point? It does seem to have provoked some fresh thinking.
Since our last syllabus went out, the New York opera world has had a major development to absorb: the Metropolitan Opera has announced the biggest change in our lifetimes in its repertory and the dimensions of its season.
As I looked for topics to present this spring, I realized more and more that this is a moment for an in-depth look at our city's operatic life in historical perspective. So this series is more thematic than our usual -- and in my opinion it's the most important semester we have had.
I'm profoundly optimistic about the future of opera. But optimism requires realism, and so I think challenges and opportunities alike need clear-eyed analysis. I hope you will want to join me in this "deep dive," and I hope you'll encourage friends who care about the arts to join us as well. I promise to make it entertaining at the same time--there is a lot to celebrate in New York's operatic past AND future.
March 21 New York, Europe, and The World: Where Things Stand
A survey of our city’s unique operatic history, with musical highlights, in the context of the wider world and a sober look at statistics and economics.
March 28 The Public
Who are we, what do we want, and who’s coming next? The demographics of operagoing and the formation of public tastes. (With a quirky side-tour of amateur performance, operatic parody, and “fandom.”)
April 4 Beyond the Canon: The New-Opera Challenge
The Metropolitan has made a bold commitment to new work, as critics have implored in vain for decades. What will success look like? What will it take to get there? (With emphasis on The Champion, opening April 10)
April 18 Performances vs. Productions
The Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) played La bohème on the same sets every year from 1898 to 1961. Today we only rarely tolerate the same visuals for a decade. Progress or problem? (With a visual and aural survey of some landmarks in production history.)
April 25 Living with Legacies
In the era that gave us opera’s canonical works, the only way to experience them was to go to the theater. Today, more operas than we could ever see in a lifetime are available with a few clicks, and the great performers of a century are infinitely present. Thrilling, but how to cope?
May 2 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Who and How?
Artists have always tilted to the political left. In an America divided as never before along political lines, this age-old fact has taken on a tremendous new importance. (With an aural history of BIPOC participation in opera from the American Civil War to the present.)
May 16 Beyond the Canon: The Age of Revivals
Starting in the 1950s, opera houses began to do something they had never done before: reaching into history for works that had come and gone. That now accounts for at least half of what we perform. Again the question: progress or problem? (With musical highlights from history-making revivals.)
May 23 Make Our Garden Grow: The Paths Forward
The pandemic interruption of 2020-2022 has intensified perennial opera-world questions. Was it a temporary setback? an accelerator? a breaking-point? It does seem to have provoked some fresh thinking.