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San Diego Opera fan joins Tolkien lovers in resenting morphs
Wagner's grandson Wieland replaced the medieval Nuremberg town
Opera companies have been trying to insert relevance and 21st Century values into opera.
There is a phenomenon happening among fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings The upcoming Amazon Original show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has created a title wave of fan resentment. Tolkien fans claim, with not a little merit, the show is fundamentally changing the lore of Tolkien's world in order to insert 21st Century identity elements.
I grew up reading Tolkien, and I find these developments to be fascinating. The alienation of a fanbase is never a good thing. The fanbases of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel have been through similar ordeals as they watched characters, whom they loved and admired, morph into something almost unrecognizable.
As I’ve been following the topic, it dawned on me that this has been happening to another fanbase for the past 46 years. That fanbase is the opera fanbase.
After World War II, Richard Wagner’s grandson, Wieland Wagner, is credited with transitioning opera productions from naturalistic to symbolic. Wieland replaced the medieval Nuremberg town with a cobbled street and an orb above the stage that was symbolic of a flowering tree. While Wieland Wagner wasn’t creating exact representations he also wasn’t creating symbolic productions that had nothing to do with what was happening in the opera.
Video:
Gwyneth Jones Brünnhilde's immolation scene
From 1976 Patrice Chereau Ring Cycle
In 1976, Patrice Chereau inserted an ideology separate from that of the opera into his production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Chereau inserted Marxism into The Ring Cycle. The characters that opera audiences had grown to know and love over the hundred years since The Ring Cycle’s premier in 1876 were beginning to be changed.
Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel have been starting to see decreased fan involvement since they started changing their core characters. Could the same thing have been happening in opera over the past half-century?
I am going to have to say yes. As opera productions have changed what opera is, it has alienated vast swathes of opera fandom and it continues to this very day.
I’ve had two conversations about San Diego Opera’s recent production of Cosi fan Tutte. Both people expressed exasperation with the production and claimed they didn’t care if they never went to another opera. Cosi had been the last straw for them. They were fed up with nonsensical presentations of operas that they love.
Two people might not appear to be a significant number, but that’s only two people that I personally know of — the two most recent people that I know of. There have been others over the years.
Opera companies have been trying to insert relevance and 21st Century values into opera and have been seeing a decrease in fan interaction. Why? Because opera fans love opera and when opera becomes something they can’t recognize as the art form they loved, they silently check out.
Here's something you might be interested in.
San Diego Opera fan joins Tolkien lovers in resenting morphs
Wagner's grandson Wieland replaced the medieval Nuremberg town
San Diego Opera fan joins Tolkien lovers in resenting morphs
Wagner's grandson Wieland replaced the medieval Nuremberg town
Opera companies have been trying to insert relevance and 21st Century values into opera.
There is a phenomenon happening among fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings The upcoming Amazon Original show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has created a title wave of fan resentment. Tolkien fans claim, with not a little merit, the show is fundamentally changing the lore of Tolkien's world in order to insert 21st Century identity elements.
I grew up reading Tolkien, and I find these developments to be fascinating. The alienation of a fanbase is never a good thing. The fanbases of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel have been through similar ordeals as they watched characters, whom they loved and admired, morph into something almost unrecognizable.
As I’ve been following the topic, it dawned on me that this has been happening to another fanbase for the past 46 years. That fanbase is the opera fanbase.
After World War II, Richard Wagner’s grandson, Wieland Wagner, is credited with transitioning opera productions from naturalistic to symbolic. Wieland replaced the medieval Nuremberg town with a cobbled street and an orb above the stage that was symbolic of a flowering tree. While Wieland Wagner wasn’t creating exact representations he also wasn’t creating symbolic productions that had nothing to do with what was happening in the opera.
Video:
Gwyneth Jones Brünnhilde's immolation scene
From 1976 Patrice Chereau Ring Cycle
In 1976, Patrice Chereau inserted an ideology separate from that of the opera into his production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Chereau inserted Marxism into The Ring Cycle. The characters that opera audiences had grown to know and love over the hundred years since The Ring Cycle’s premier in 1876 were beginning to be changed.
Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel have been starting to see decreased fan involvement since they started changing their core characters. Could the same thing have been happening in opera over the past half-century?
I am going to have to say yes. As opera productions have changed what opera is, it has alienated vast swathes of opera fandom and it continues to this very day.
I’ve had two conversations about San Diego Opera’s recent production of Cosi fan Tutte. Both people expressed exasperation with the production and claimed they didn’t care if they never went to another opera. Cosi had been the last straw for them. They were fed up with nonsensical presentations of operas that they love.
Two people might not appear to be a significant number, but that’s only two people that I personally know of — the two most recent people that I know of. There have been others over the years.
Opera companies have been trying to insert relevance and 21st Century values into opera and have been seeing a decrease in fan interaction. Why? Because opera fans love opera and when opera becomes something they can’t recognize as the art form they loved, they silently check out.
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