How to Save Opera in America? Make It New Again.

Opinion|How to Save Opera in America? Make It New Again.

When the acclaimed soprano Lise Davidsen took the stage to sing her first performance of Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” at the Metropolitan Opera last week, it recalled a halcyon age: the early part of the 20th century, when opera as a public art form was arguably at the peak of its popularity, and new work by living composers was capturing the imagination of the public.

In 1910, Puccini was in New York to supervise the opening night of his opera “La Fanciulla del West,” the Met’s very first world premiere. With the tenor Enrico Caruso and the soprano Emmy Destinn, household names in their day, in the leading roles, “Fanciulla” was a runaway hit. Tickets sold out, creating a market for scalpers. The response at the premiere was rapturous.

Now, more than 100 years later, with a severe lack of music education in our schools and competition from an ever-expanding array of streaming entertainment options, opera faces its greatest existential challenge.

Many companies, including the Met, are still trying to recover from the losses of the pandemic. We are fighting to survive economically (our European colleagues are better off with substantial government funding), regain our artistic footing and secure new audiences and donors. This is particularly difficult to accomplish because for decades there has been resistance to substantial artistic change from administrators, academics and critics.

After 18 years running the Met, and a lifetime of experience in classical music and opera, it’s clear to me that the solution to sustaining opera is through artistic reinvention, both with new operas by living composers, and reimagined productions of classics that can resonate with audiences of today.

Those of us who know and love opera know the potential of its appeal. It is anything but an outdated art form. As an amalgam of virtually all the performing and visual arts, opera has the singular power to reveal the essence of our humanity.