As societal tastes transform and the musical landscape changes, where does “high art” fit into our lives? Opera may not fulfill the exact cultural need it once did, but its recent transformation has inspired a new generation of audience members in a post-pandemic New York City.
The spectacle of opera has drawn audiences to grandiose opera houses with gold-leaf adorned ceilings and chandeliers emblazoned with seemingly infinite hand-cut Swarovski crystals for centuries. Opera’s elitist history is one that encouraged an appreciation for the arts — as long as you were in a certain tax bracket. With donor bases dwindling, and younger audiences embodying differing economic priorities, we have begun to see these luxurious opera houses take the route of economically advantageous productions.
Sophia Sheinin, an Aaron Copeland School of Music (ACSM) alum and musicologist, explained that globally, opera has seen a shift towards affordability — if you can ultimately classify it as “affordable,” since it is inherently such an expensive medium, she added. This shift was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given opera’s older donor base, the pandemic devastated opera houses’ financial stability in addition to audiences simply not having access to disposable income to spend on such art forms.
Sheinin weighed in on The Met’s new production of Verdi’s “Aida,” exemplifying the medium’s shift towards cost efficiency: “It’s a stripped down, fiscally conservative production featuring Angel Blue as Aida. It favors multimedia presentations rather than having fire-eaters and other displays on stage, which I think is a bit of a loss in terms of the spectacle of opera,” she said. “But it does make sense for a modern Met opera house.”
The American cultural context of opera has also shifted recently. Dr. Sherry Overholt, Director of Vocal Studies at ACSM, noted, “We are now embracing musical theater as our national treasure. We used to have European models, and so now we see the crossover of musical theater, as well as more contemporary American works being done in opera.”
As of late, composers and performers that many recognize from Broadway have made their operatic debuts, such as legendary actresses Kelli O’Hara and Audra McDonald and composer Jeanine Tesori. Tesori’s musicals “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Fun Home,” and “Caroline, or Change” have established her as a compositional powerhouse on Broadway. In addition to her musicals, she’s composed numerous operas, including her most recent work, “Grounded,” which was commissioned by the Met for its 2024–2025 season.
While musical theater is not explicitly performed at the Met, Tesori herself expressed her fondness toward introducing its exuberant spirit into the operatic landscape. In an interview with broadway.com, she said, “I come to the opera with a great sense of fun and joy. Because why else are we there? It’s taken them a little while to get used to me in that way, busting through the formality. I am an informal person. I just feel like screaming after the chorus does something extraordinary.”
Over the course of the last few seasons at The Met, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of contemporary American premieres, such as formerly mentioned
Jeanine Tesori’s “Grounded,” as well as Kevin Puts’s “The Hours,” Terrence Blanchard’s “Champion,” “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” and Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking.”
While the sweeping melodies of Puccini and Mozart still have the power to move an audience to tears, people crave new forms of art to relate and latch on to. Composers specifically are always looking for a new sound, a new perspective to explore. We’ve seen it time and time again — from the creation of tonal centers to serialism, innovation and forward momentum are the heartbeat that fuels the advancement of music.
Despite all of the whirlwind change opera has experienced lately, Dr. Overholt has an eminently auspicious outlook on the fate of opera. She stated, “The good news is that younger people are coming to the Met. Opera will never die, there will always be opera– it’s just simply a question of how it is going to exist.”
