Most New Operas are TERRIBLE: here’s why! #shorts

[FlorianPi]

I strongly disagree that "most new operas are terrible". Last season I watched four contemporary operas ("Die letzte Verschwörung" by Moritz Eggert, "Animal Farm" by Alexander Raskatov, "The Tempest" by Thomas Ades and "The Gospel According to the other Mary" by John Adams) and I loved every single one. And to be honest, I would like to see way more contemporary operas in the repertories of opera houses.

[AngeloBassVComposer]

Writing opera should be available to just as many people that watch and listen to it. If a certain opera is “terrible” like you say in the title, then opera houses and production teams won’t give it the time of day no matter what. However, to say that only the MOST elite and well-practiced composers should even try to write an opera in the modern world is absurd. Yes, many composers are not ready for such a grand task, but that should not stop the ones that feel that they are, and want to try. Composing music for orchestra (not to mention voices as well) is already a skill that barely anyone even claims to have these days, so if someone wants to write an opera, they should just start writing. You essentially rejected operas that have not been written yet by making this video. And you know what? That is not your decision to make in the first place. If a specific opera is generally thought to be bad, no one who has power or money will care, and it likely won’t see an audience. But even bad operas deserve to be written so that the opera I eventually write may stand out like a tulip in a garden of weeds.

[markoslavicek]

While I generally agree, I don't think this applies to new operas only. Most of *all* operas are terrible and the reason why we still fetishise a few pieces by Mozart, Verdi, etc is because of the historic filter. Just like with anything else, for example symphonies, the best ones pass the test of time whereas the others don't get to become the part of the standard repertoire.

[CentrifugalSatzClock]

Constructionist opera is an entirely different thing.

[magmasunburst]

Einstein on the Beach I think was a success and the only work by Glass that I thought was truly exceptional.

[NotJonJost]

I wonder if it would be worth there being more venues/possibilities for operas between 20 and 70 minutes. Shorter operas with smaller scales and stakes-- for composers to practice, almost.

[MartijnHover]

Do read "Maskerade" by Terry Pratchett. It's all about opera. :-D

[davidbanks]

One of the problems for opera is people like me. I enjoy a bit of Wagner but that’s pretty much it. I have no idea about modern operas or who would be writing them.

[fstover]

Usually Samuel Andreyev can be credited for making smart comments, but saying that "very few people should be allowed to compose operas" absolves the boards and committees who fund or commission the rubbish of unprepared composes.

[comontoshi]

Dylan said it best . . . “the times they are a-changin’ . . .” 😎

[samuelwnovak]

I’d bet many people would decry this as an elitist take, but it’s absolutely true. I don’t even like opera, I could never get into it aside from a few out-of-context arias here and there (especially Mozart), but surely the demands of the medium are OBJECTIVELY more difficult to manage (and therefore actually pull off well) than, say, a 1-minute piano piece that’s clearly beginner level in both technical performance requirements and compositional craft.

[yango]

Can't disagree more. I've seen lots of great new Kammer-Opern when I was still living in Hamburg. Yes, some of them were trash, but that's also the fun, right? Check out Gordon Kampes' works. They are lit (as the young folks say today 😉)!

[stueyapstuey]

LOL - not a contentious position to take!

[victormushtin]

Did you find yourself disappointed in your abilities or with previous experience writing such complex pieces as opera or something similar?

[angwantibo]

I'd bet this snipped is somewhat out of context, I'll have to watch the full discussion later, but this is a horrible proposal. Totalising claims such as 'opera is dead' or 'most operas are terrible' pretty much necessarily rest on exclusions. Most operas are terrible, because the great ones are not allowed into existence. There is some amazing stuff happening in opera, mostly at the margins, without a lot of funding, chamber operas e.g.. The problem is not that the bad ones are not excluded, but that the resources are not distributed in a way that would allow the great stuff that is happening at the margins to flourish.

[blankslate]

John Williams has the skills, would love to see him try

[gepmrk]

FWIW the singing is the problem. Like a lot of people, I find the excessive vibrato to be unlistenable. I can listen to any amount of sprechstimme but conventional opera singing is something I don't want to hear. It's almost as grating as the singing style employed in Musical Theatre.

[davidryan]

‘Allowed’ ??? Who are the gatekeepers here?

[raphaelpro]

Isn't it maybe a bit old fashioned ? Music of today do not suit anymore to the "canon du genre". Since Wagner it lost a lot of his interest and concretly only mélomanes come to see Dusapin, Leroux, Adès... new works

[anthonycook]

Hitler and Stalin practiced this. Carl Orff and Richard Strauss could write operas; Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Krenek and Korngold, not so much.