In an article in the Times today, Daniel Wakin reports that the Met intends to put on a trimmed-down version of its recent ‘Magic Flute’ production. It is part of an attempt by the Met to “attract audiences” (that catchphrase being flung around in non-profit circles so much you have to duck to avoid it). Joseph Volpe even imagined a truncated “Ring” cycle. Hello?! What’s going on here? The article makes it sound like the 90-minute “Flute” was as a result of the Met’s labor agreement with its Chorus and Orchestra. But pleasing union reps isn’t the real reason behind this decision. It is true that the union had to agree to adding performances to an already busy season, but the Met is driving at something else. I think we can take this announcement two ways: One is to think that it’s an okay idea and may have the intended effect of making opera more accessible and attracting audiences. The other is to see this as a corruption of Mozart’s music and a frightening taste of what’s to come. I’m not sure where I fall with this one. “Magic Flute” is kind of a special case: Mozart composed the opera for a mass audience, showing that his uncanny opera composition skills could be incorporated to a popular art form. I think the show works brilliantly, which is why so many incarnations of it have found their way to opera outreach programs all over the world. So why is the Met production any different? It’s one thing to be a conservatory giving young singers a chance to learn roles while educating kids about opera. It’s another to be an institution seen as the mantle of opera in the United States trying to make a buck. I guess the important question to ask is “How far will this go?” It’s an example of an increasingly marginalized opera world where singers are hired for looks, directors are hired for how controversial and sexy they can make a production, and musical quality spirals downward. I am not saying that this is the dominant trend in the world of opera. Many talented and culturally astute performers and producers are trying their hardest to reverse this trend. But if the Met says it’s okay to tinker with Mozart, what’s to say other companies won’t take the invitation as well? What’s next, a “Forty-minute ‘Figaro’”? A gala ‘Carmen’ with Beyoncé?
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