Opera house says bring more boos
mainIn what looks like another round of fake news kicked off by an attention-seeking executive at English National Opera, two UK companies say they are encouraging the booing of stage villains by first-time oepragoers.
Stuart Murphy, chief executive of English National Opera, said the company had noticed booing on Saturday nights, when under-18s are given free seats in the balcony as part of a series of measures to entice new young opera-lovers.
“I certainly think there’s a thing that people are comfortable being more vocal nowadays.
“People feel – I don’t know if it’s an American thing – people feel more comfortable being expressive.”
Anybody at ENO ever been to La Scala, Vienna or Bayreuth?
Read on here.
“An American thing…”
Yeah, being an American pretty much implies uncultured boorish behavior these days.
Or Paris?
Pity the poor tenor who has to sing Pinkerton in ‘Butterfly’. I’ve never heard him escape the usual cascade of boo’s when he takes his curtain calls.
Not in any civilised country he doesn’t.
Right. It’s so American and so recent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQY_mwgisfo
What a prize twit Murphy is.
You evidently didn’t read the article (and maybe NL didn’t, either) because it wasn’t confined to ENO. It’s a trend story that cited common experience at Scottish Opera, Covent Garden, Grange Park Opera and Theatre Royal Glasgow. The director and singer who were quoted in the story actually welcomed — to the point of amusement — the practice of “booing the baddies.”
Erm, people have been doing this for years and years and years. It isn’t new in the least -and nor is the irritation with it. I know few who like it. However, I don’t have an enormous worry about it and it is certainly not the Free Ticket seat occupants doing it alone.
So-called “pantomime booing” of villainous characters is a fairly widespread tradition in the UK – and a healthy sign of immersion in the drama. If singers have been properly briefed by the company – or are familiar with UK audience conventions – they’ll hopefully take it as the compliment it is. Opera bores who affect to find it troubling are often merely being snobbish: as if the great unwashed should be fastidiously assessing the quality of a singer’s high Cs instead of being swept up in a total theatrical experience.
Clearly classical music isn’t your thing, is it?
You stick to Dick Whittington & His Cat at the Paignton Palais, mate. They let you chuck beer there too, I hear??
A sad generation that can’t distinguish appreciation for the performer from its own response to the character.
It seems only the male villains are booed. I wonder if anyone would have booed Montserrat Caballe, Joan Sutherland or Beverly Sills after a performance of Lucrezia Borgia. All in all I think it is a stupid idea. After all Opera is not Pantomime!
Can do without that in any part of London or Hritain, thank you, unless it’s a bit of fun for a villain in a curtain call. Singers, whether you like them, or certain individual singers, or not, work very hard. They don’t need to think they will get booed by the musicological armchair experts – who think they know everything about singing but can’t sing a decent note themselves, or else had failed careers – before they even start. Uncouth behaviour and we just don’t need it. ENO is a fine company that make opera affordable in our own language.
An alternative view is that the singer is paid to appear on-stage and entertain the audience. If the audience want to enjoy themselves by booing the villain on stage then tough: that is what you are paid to do, so suck-it-up.
Oh boy, I can’t wait for the next performance of Sacre…
Ridiculous, pathetic practice.
Another way to strip opera of whatever shred of dignity it still has. I remember booing villains in children plays, but that was over after elementary school. When do the audiences officially grow up?
Another reason to stop going to ENO. It wants to create a culture of stupidity.
Creating the culture of stupidity has already been done excellently by Eton College. All ENO has to do is flog them tickets.
Well done Murphy. Don’t be surprised if the next step in your audience being expressive is by their throwing beer bottles and vomiting.
Nothing could be worse than the brot who yelled out to Blanche Theobaum after a performance of Tristan and Isolde at the Met, “show us your tits ” ! This was many, many years ago.