Page 111 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
P. 111
opera in ireland – a continuing struggle for acceptance
time that one strongly suspects it to be the result of a deliberate strategy. Re-
cently an independent state-sponsored report recommended detaching the
National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ and placing it under direct state
control and funding. However, it is as yet not clear what the ultimate out-
come will be – yet any decline of these two orchestras would be detrimental
for the Irish operatic scene as their members form the backbone of the or-
chestras accompanying the majority of operatic performances in Ireland.26
Given that the opera house in Wexford is now the National Opera
House there is little chance of another dedicated opera house being estab-
lished in Dublin. It also would hardly find a sufficient audience for a con-
tinuous operatic season running throughout the year – while there was by
all account’s considerable enthusiasm for opera amongst different classes
about a century ago even then this would probably not have been feasi-
ble. There are still fewer operatic performances in Dublin than there were a
hundred years ago, but it is possible that there are more performances out-
side Dublin now than at that time – although numbers for the early twen-
tieth century are not available it is likely that travelling companies would
only have visited a few larger cities while today at least some productions
are designed to also fit into smaller venues and perform in towns and re-
gions that would not have seen opera in previous times. The live stream-
ings of performances from the Metropolitan Opera in New York run in
30 cinemas in the South, including six in Dublin, and are quite success-
ful. The broad range of larger and smaller companies staging opera in Ire-
land can be seen as an advantage in terms of the amount of energy, enthusi-
asm and variety of aesthetic approaches channelled into opera productions
from many different angles, but it is also a source of insecurity as there is no
long-term strategic planning possible even for the larger companies while
some of the smaller ones in some years cannot present any production if
they are not awarded funding. The multitude of providers also creates ad-
vertising problems particularly for the smaller companies.
Overall, 2018 was a hopeful year for opera in Ireland with more perfor-
mances than in many a year before, but the genre still faces systemic chal-
lenges and continues its struggle for acceptance beyond the range of its en-
thusiastic supporters.
26 There are two smaller professional yet not permanent orchestras in the country: the
Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Their members meet for
a small number of concerts per year, depending on the amount of funding they were
awarded in any given season. Both orchestras occasionally accompany opera pro-
ductions.
109
time that one strongly suspects it to be the result of a deliberate strategy. Re-
cently an independent state-sponsored report recommended detaching the
National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ and placing it under direct state
control and funding. However, it is as yet not clear what the ultimate out-
come will be – yet any decline of these two orchestras would be detrimental
for the Irish operatic scene as their members form the backbone of the or-
chestras accompanying the majority of operatic performances in Ireland.26
Given that the opera house in Wexford is now the National Opera
House there is little chance of another dedicated opera house being estab-
lished in Dublin. It also would hardly find a sufficient audience for a con-
tinuous operatic season running throughout the year – while there was by
all account’s considerable enthusiasm for opera amongst different classes
about a century ago even then this would probably not have been feasi-
ble. There are still fewer operatic performances in Dublin than there were a
hundred years ago, but it is possible that there are more performances out-
side Dublin now than at that time – although numbers for the early twen-
tieth century are not available it is likely that travelling companies would
only have visited a few larger cities while today at least some productions
are designed to also fit into smaller venues and perform in towns and re-
gions that would not have seen opera in previous times. The live stream-
ings of performances from the Metropolitan Opera in New York run in
30 cinemas in the South, including six in Dublin, and are quite success-
ful. The broad range of larger and smaller companies staging opera in Ire-
land can be seen as an advantage in terms of the amount of energy, enthusi-
asm and variety of aesthetic approaches channelled into opera productions
from many different angles, but it is also a source of insecurity as there is no
long-term strategic planning possible even for the larger companies while
some of the smaller ones in some years cannot present any production if
they are not awarded funding. The multitude of providers also creates ad-
vertising problems particularly for the smaller companies.
Overall, 2018 was a hopeful year for opera in Ireland with more perfor-
mances than in many a year before, but the genre still faces systemic chal-
lenges and continues its struggle for acceptance beyond the range of its en-
thusiastic supporters.
26 There are two smaller professional yet not permanent orchestras in the country: the
Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Their members meet for
a small number of concerts per year, depending on the amount of funding they were
awarded in any given season. Both orchestras occasionally accompany opera pro-
ductions.
109
