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https://theconversation.com/do-people-still-care-about-opera-an-insider-raises-some-doubts-277234>
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Review: Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for its
Future – Caitlin Vincent (Scribner)
In a now notorious interview, actor Timothée Chalamet declared he only wanted
to work in a creative field people valued. He was not keen on an art form like
opera, “where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares
about this anymore’.”
His comments predictably triggered a backlash across the opera industry – and
some say they contributed to him losing this year’s Best Actor Oscar race. What
should the rest of us make of the fuss?
This is the kind of question Melbourne-based opera expert Caitlin Vincent sets
out to help answer in her new book,
Opera Wars.
Her declared target audience is “the opera curious” as well as “opera lovers”,
but the book is no mere operatic primer. Vincent, too, harbours serious doubts
about the ongoing relevance and importance of this once venerable European art
form.
The book’s driving narrative comes from her exploration of the grounds for such
doubts. It examines two broad areas of concern. One is the challenges facing
anyone considering an opera career today. Her informed and wide-ranging
discussion of them accounts for the more successful and informative parts of
the book.
The other is more philosophical, and raises questions like: what is opera good
for? What is – or should be – its meaning and value for us today?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
