Opera: it’s not just for grandparents and rich people! With the virality of opera clips spreading across TikTok and a desire for an opportunity to dress up fancy for the night, myself and a friend decided a trip to the opera was the next thing to tick off our bucket list. Opera is one of the oldest art forms still alive today, originating in the Renaissance era in the 1600s. There definitely remains a stereotypical reputation of opera belonging to the upper classes or being stuck in the past. Opera companies, however, are putting up a fight to this by reimagining their productions in line with the contemporary. So here’s my two cents on opera as a young woman!
With that being said, there then comes the question of what to do with the classic operas, the ‘repertoire’ as it is known (or as I call them, ‘The Big Ones’). We had tickets for one of these exactly: Puccini’s Tosca, staged by Opera North who are conveniently based in Leeds. Knowing it was one of the world’s most famous operas excited me. However its reputation as being an opera “good for beginners”, a phrase I’d seen thrown around online in my rather weak attempt at research before watching, I felt more dubious about. On one hand, it was certainly promising that I didn’t need experience to watch, but the implication of needing experience just to watch an opera was more daunting.
All of this was pushed aside as the show started and the magnitude of experiencing a truly classic opera feels like it overtook any preconceptions I had made. To start, Leeds Grand Theatre is stunning. Before my friend and I made the hunt for our seats at the back of the stalls, we took a detour to see the opulent architecture of the auditorium. With a mammoth chandelier over our heads and intricately carved wooden details scaling the walls, we needless to say felt like two very classy ladies. The retreat to our seats with a comparatively rather measly view of the theatre’s architecture felt a tad bitter. Thankfully our view of the show however was perfect – and what a show it was!
Having been to the odd theatre and musical show before, I had expected something similar, but the raw power of the operatic voices totally blew my expectations away. The singers aren’t mic’d up at all, and the talent needed to be able to fill a theatre of that size is hard to comprehend. Giselle Allen playing Tosca, the title role, stole the show. Effortlessly convincing and utterly jaw-dropping with her vocals, she created a chemistry between both her onstage lover, Cavardossi, and the audience, who were hanging onto her every word. I found myself whispering to my friend ‘she’s just like me’ at Tosca’s dramatic emotional outbursts.
The Orchestra of Opera North too was commanding and simply transportative. As opera rookies, my friend and I settled on describing the music ‘as if every song in Les Mis was a really big ballad’, so make of that what you will. It’s worth noting that whilst all sung in Italian, there were English subtitles, but most of the action was easy to understand due to how expressive the performance was. Overall the show was full of intense, angsty romance, fast paced drama and beautifully dramatic set design. It packed quite the punch.
So the show was great, but where does this fit in with the generations of today? Social media is a known way to grab the attention of younger generations, and it’s no secret that brands, and certainly theatre companies, have been trying to hop onto the TikTok wave in an attempt to do just that. However, are shows like Opera North’s 2022 production Orpheus a more potent way to connect with younger people than just social media? This production took one of the world’s first ever operas, Montiverdi’s 1607 L’Orfeo, and blended it with Indian Classical music in collaboration with South Asian Arts-UK. Sung in Italian, Hindi and Urdu all in one performance, this unity of cultures inevitably yanks opera by its hair into the modern age of diverse Britain. If TikTok is anything to go by for young people’s approval (and it often is) then Opera North certainly had it for this show, with a clip from Orpheus going viral far beyond the account’s typical numbers at nearly 90K likes and users clearly craving more, commenting repeatedly asking where they can find the full video. The virality of the Orpheus clip shows one quite obvious way of engaging young people in opera, through social media. But perhaps more importantly, it shows how embracing modernity whilst still honouring tradition goes a long way when connecting across the generations.
The verdict then… Without a doubt, Tosca is one of the best shows of any kind I’ve ever seen. The emotional impact rivalled many of my favourite shows and it kept me on my toes throughout, never letting me rest for a moment. The humour and the sensuality of the performance was a welcome surprise. Even more of a surprise is that this opera composed over 100 years before my birth could communicate these qualities to me so engagingly. Taking classics and transforming them, as was done with Orpheus, poses a different question. Whilst many opera buffs are arguing for the preservation of opera and its antiquity, companies such as Opera North don’t appear to be giving in; instead embracing the changes of our world as if they are in collaboration with the artistry of opera, not in opposition to it. Whilst going to see the classic operas as they were originally intended is an exciting idea, to bear witness to the innovation of modern minds as they reconfigure great, classical artistry alongside an increased exposure to the dynamism of a multicultural society is arguably even better. It feels as though opera has come full circle since its Renaissance genesis, and is now undergoing a new renaissance to reckon with modernity, and certainly with the young generations today. Personally, I can’t wait to see where it takes us!
Opera North has tickets available to under 30s for £10 and Try It On tickets for first time viewers for £20. I would encourage you to grab that bargain and take the opportunity to experience opera in all its glory for a night out that has proven very different from our usual bars and clubs.
Written by: Hannah Clarke
Edited by: Anna Duffell