{"id":4792,"date":"2017-01-04T02:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T07:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=4792"},"modified":"2017-01-02T19:40:12","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T00:40:12","slug":"cry-of-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/01\/cry-of-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Cry of the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Several months ago in its weekly newsletter, ArtsJournal.com<\/a>, the host of this blog, posted an article about opera in Great Britain that had the following teaser title: Opera Is *Not* Too Posh And Exclusive, And If You Think It Is, It\u2019s Your Own Damn Fault, Says Opera Boss<\/a>. That title was, without a doubt, (successful) clickbait.<\/p>\n

As readers of Engaging Matters<\/em> might expect, a title suggesting that those not interested in opera (or any other art form) need to fix themselves troubled me, to say the least. The implicit condescension is one thing. But from a practical point of view, how effective is it to tell people who are not interested in a product that they are at fault and need to change?!!<\/p>\n

On reading the article, it turned out that the teaser was a good deal more extreme than the content. Michael Volpe, the director of Opera Holland Park described the efforts his company has made to make opera accessible and those efforts do, indeed, appear to be innovative, extensive, and substantial. My hat is off to him.<\/p>\n

And I understand his frustration at the continuing image that opera (and virtually every other art form) “is for the rich, unattainable, impenetrable, elitist and from a parallel universe.” No single organization can really rectify what is a very widely held perception. The frustration came out in two quotes:<\/p>\n