AS THE EXECUTIVE Director of the Opera Theatre Company (OTC), Ireland’s national touring opera company, I meet people practically everyday who feel compelled to tell me that they don’t know anything about opera.
Invariably I ask those people: do they like good music? Do they enjoy good singing? Isn’t the sound of a full orchestra just amazing up close? Yes, yes, yes I hear. But they proceed then to tell me that they think opera is in a foreign language, the singing is over the top, the stories are old fashioned, you have to dress up to go to the opera and the music isn’t cool.
As a company, OTC has been working hard to challenge these preconceptions for almost 28 years. From site-specific opera at Kilmainham Gaol to touring Mozart operas sung in English to community halls in Mayo, OTC has found ways to make opera something everyone can experience, understand and – hopefully – love.
So what’s old fashioned about gambling, drinking, debauchery, chaos and a world where cash is king? It sounds like a parable for the Celtic Tiger or any weekend in Temple Bar if you ask me. The opera we are currently producing with our partners Rough Magic Theatre Company tells exactly this story in way that is thrilling, exciting and with a team and cast of amazingly talented Irish singers, musicians and creatives.
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is no ordinary opera. Musically, it features a complex juxtaposition of opera, jazz and cabaret and this particular production, presented with special funding from the Sky Arts Ignition Award, is no ordinary production. Director Lynne Parker will create an immersive opera experience in the round at the Olympia which will bring the audience into the centre of the gritty, timeless metropolis of Mahagonny.
Yes, opera singing is over the top because opera is the Olympics of singing! Opera is all about the voice. It is something that is presented without amplification and without barriers. It is one human singing to hundreds or thousands of others completely live and unenhanced. In this day and age, the natural wonder of great singing is best experienced in opera.
Dressing up for any night out is part of the fun isn’t it? But you definitely do not have to dress up to go to see Mahagonny. Wear whatever you like, come straight from work or from the gym, it doesn’t matter. The days of the black-tie dress code are pretty much gone.
Too cool for school? Well, if this music isn’t cool then how come so many of us know so much of it? The Verdi and Puccini operas were the popular music of their day, so I would say great tunes are great tunes end of story. That’s why The Doors and David Bowie have covered The Alabama Song from Weill’s Mahagonny – it’s a cracking tune with decent lyrics. Music from opera permeates our life everyday in adverts, films, radio, television soundtracks, piped music in stores – so pay attention folks because the not-so-cool music is everywhere.
Opera is essentially about telling human stories using music in a specific way to heighten and “explain” the emotional import of the stories, ie not relying on the story itself or text to do that. And that’s the bit that gets people. Once you go to the opera and you have experienced that emotional pull and physical reaction you’re hooked.
So whether you are already an opera aficionado or you are not sure about ‘going to the opera’ take the plunge with Mahagonny. Come to the Olympia and revel in the sights, sounds and sheer visceral force of a full opera production with 31 singers, 40 musicians in the orchestra and a once-in-lifetime production that will turn your idea of opera completely on its head for good.
Rosemary Collier is the Executive Director of the Opera Theatre Company, Ireland’s national touring opera company. Founded in 1986, the company has toured opera to over 100 venues and locations throughout the Island of Ireland to a diverse range of audiences and communities.
OTC and co-producers Rough Magic Theatre Company will present Sky Arts Ignition: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Weill/Brecht in an immersive opera experience at the Olympia Theatre 13-22 June.
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