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#BattleFest2014: Opera: are we all invited?
Despite the economic crisis, art in Greece
is booming. By 2015, new museums and cultural organisations are
scheduled to open their doors to the public, many of them privately
funded rather than state-run as in the past. As Greek classical
orchestras and opera companies find themselves in a bleak financial
situation due to government spending cuts, private funding seems to have
offered a way out. At the same time, non-traditional venues such as
Syntagma Square’s metro station and airplane flights have been used as
opera stages, in an effort to promote it to new audiences.
Yet the question of how opera, along with other elite art forms such
as classical music and theatre, can and should be made more accessible
to all is a fraught one. Some argue, for example, that the key lies in
demystifying some of opera’s difficulty by incorporating elements from
popular culture and emphasising its contemporary socio-political
relevance. Yet others warn that such an approach risks alienating
current and potential audiences who are attracted to art precisely
because it is so strange and diverts us from everyday concerns. They
argue that the opera world – especially critics - should certainly focus
their energies on inspiring and explaining opera’s virtues for the
curious, while accepting that The Ring Cycle isn’t for everyone.
Can such projects – whether privately or state funded - really be
justified when they bring little obvious benefit to most Greeks,
especially in a period of economic crisis? What emphasis should
performers and critics place on making opera more accessible versus
making judgments on purely artistic grounds? Does opera, or any other
‘difficult’ art form, by definition need to be held to different
standards of accessibility than popular culture?
Speakers
Dr Eugenia Arsenis
director; dramaturg, Center for Contemporary Opera, New York
Dolan Cummings
associate fellow, Institute of Ideas; editor, Debating Humanism; co-founder, Manifesto Club
Dr Nikos Dontas
head, Dramaturgy Department, Greek National Opera; music critic, Kathimerini
Dimitrios Kiousopoulos
historian; columnist, Eleftherotypia
Ioannis Tselikas
assistant professor, Hellenic American University; music editor and performer
Chair
Alan Miller
co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, London's Truman Brewery; partner, Argosy Pictures Film Company
Produced by
Geoff Kidder director, membership and events, Institute of Ideas; convenor, IoI Book Club; IoI’s resident expert in all sporting matters
Ira Papadopoulou director of cultural affairs, Hellenic American Union
Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos assistant lecturer in sociology, University of Kent
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By academyofideas
3.9
77 ratings
Despite the economic crisis, art in Greece
is booming. By 2015, new museums and cultural organisations are
scheduled to open their doors to the public, many of them privately
funded rather than state-run as in the past. As Greek classical
orchestras and opera companies find themselves in a bleak financial
situation due to government spending cuts, private funding seems to have
offered a way out. At the same time, non-traditional venues such as
Syntagma Square’s metro station and airplane flights have been used as
opera stages, in an effort to promote it to new audiences.
Yet the question of how opera, along with other elite art forms such
as classical music and theatre, can and should be made more accessible
to all is a fraught one. Some argue, for example, that the key lies in
demystifying some of opera’s difficulty by incorporating elements from
popular culture and emphasising its contemporary socio-political
relevance. Yet others warn that such an approach risks alienating
current and potential audiences who are attracted to art precisely
because it is so strange and diverts us from everyday concerns. They
argue that the opera world – especially critics - should certainly focus
their energies on inspiring and explaining opera’s virtues for the
curious, while accepting that The Ring Cycle isn’t for everyone.
Can such projects – whether privately or state funded - really be
justified when they bring little obvious benefit to most Greeks,
especially in a period of economic crisis? What emphasis should
performers and critics place on making opera more accessible versus
making judgments on purely artistic grounds? Does opera, or any other
‘difficult’ art form, by definition need to be held to different
standards of accessibility than popular culture?
Speakers
Dr Eugenia Arsenis
director; dramaturg, Center for Contemporary Opera, New York
Dolan Cummings
associate fellow, Institute of Ideas; editor, Debating Humanism; co-founder, Manifesto Club
Dr Nikos Dontas
head, Dramaturgy Department, Greek National Opera; music critic, Kathimerini
Dimitrios Kiousopoulos
historian; columnist, Eleftherotypia
Ioannis Tselikas
assistant professor, Hellenic American University; music editor and performer
Chair
Alan Miller
co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, London's Truman Brewery; partner, Argosy Pictures Film Company
Produced by
Geoff Kidder director, membership and events, Institute of Ideas; convenor, IoI Book Club; IoI’s resident expert in all sporting matters
Ira Papadopoulou director of cultural affairs, Hellenic American Union
Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos assistant lecturer in sociology, University of Kent
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