How to rile the white, male opera establishment

How to rile the white, male opera establishment

Opera

norman lebrecht

August 19, 2024

My Lebrecht Interview with Wasfi Kani presents a woman of colour at war with the old school ties who control British opera.

Wasfi is the first to admit she’s not an easy person to get on with – the last place she worked she took away all the furniture and fittings. But she has created more opera companies than anyone in memory and she has brought opera to some of the most desperate and despised members of a fractured swociety.

This is not a promo. But if you listen to the programme you will discover an engine of opera activity that is hardly ever credited by mainstream print media.

Listen here for the next 29 days.

 

 

Comments

  • Clem says:

    To be fair there have been others who have trodden the path in their own way. Leonard Marcus now virtually forgotten, pioneered lesser known operas at the Saint Pancras Festival which flourished for many years in post-War London and gave opportunities to rising stars including Joan Sutherland. Lina Lalandi was also very active in Oxford and London too, and Tony Stokes at Hintlesham was another pioneer in his way. Leonard Ingrams started Garsington with all that has since followed. Wasfi is doing a great job but we mustn’t forget that there others blazing a trail before her.

    • Davis says:

      Again, you’ve only named white men. Can you really not give this woman credit without naming those that you seem to posit as her betters? Do you think the men you’ve named had the same challenges and life experiences that Wasfi faced, or by praising her do you think we’re trying to take something from them? Her work and efforts are unique and they are a gift that furthers the work of those that came before her. I suspect her efforts make YOU somewhat better too, but you’ll have to figure that out. Thanks, Norman, for offering Wasfi Kani a spotlight that she needn’t share.

  • yaron says:

    Opera was written almost exclusively by white males. Is it not cultural appropriation when other human creatures dare touch it?

    • Davis says:

      Treating women violently or refusing to acknowledge their gifts is also an appropriation of white, male cultural norms from an earlier era. But we were talking about art, or is that not what the white men you’re speaking of were attempting to create? If we follow your thinking then opera (and classical music more generally) should only be appreciated and enjoyed by white western royalty. I’d still like to know specifically why praise and acknowledgement for a woman of color and vision seems to hurt you so deeply. Best wishes that you get better.

      • Gerry Feinsteen says:

        Perhaps it might be worth considering white males are not all the same, and that many white males are focused not on the who but on the what, the how, the when, where, and the why.
        Can you take your racist (and sexist) vitriol and try shaking things up at the NBA, at The View, at spelling bees, math olympiads, and piano competitions? White males are not disgruntled by a lack of presence at ping pong prizes.

        Your argument presupposes all white males are the same and all everyone else are the same, and this victims. Do something for yourself.

      • yaron says:

        I just turned the PC atgument around: Discriminating against “white males” was not my idea. I find it stupid, racist and sexist, but some consider it PC. That is what I protest against.

        • Davis says:

          Thank you for clarifying. Considering the absolute venom I’ve encountered in many responses to anything advocating inclusivity on this site, I actually thought you were serious. It’s possible to be old, white, male AND inclusive (I’m proof).

  • Samuel Neumann says:

    I wonder what those who work for her feel. Interview a chorister.

  • Adrienne says:

    “the most desperate and despised members of a fractured swociety.”

    That would be white, working class boys then, according to many surveys over several years.

  • Anonymous says:

    Grange Park does not pay its freelance instrumentalists well at all. Far less than if you were playing the same opera at Glyndebourne or Covent Garden. Yet rumours abound of the crazy money that the stars (Terfel etc) receive….

  • Roland says:

    Yet the audience and donors she panders to are the most establishment you will find at any festival or venue in the UK.

    • Iain says:

      A common example of circular reasoning:

      A: An opera audience is establishment.

      B: How do you know?

      A: Because members of the establishment go to the opera.

      • Roland says:

        Not in the least. Few of the people I’ve seen there seem to care much about opera and much more about being seen and drinking champagne.

        • Iain says:

          Ah, now I understand. It’s not possible to drink champagne AND care about opera.

          Would pints of bitter meet with your approval?

    • Davis says:

      I’m not British but if news (and comments on slippedisc) concerning funding for the arts are to be believed, does she have any choice but to “pander” to the establishment? Is there any other group that she might “pander” to for funding? She must be pretty good at it, judging by the rancor…

  • Matthew says:

    Having sung many years at Grange Park Opera as a chorister, I can personally say that whatever her business credentials, she is a very unpleasant person and made the environment very difficult to work in. I know of at least two instances where she put the business ahead of the wellbeing of people working there and both times she would’ve been in a lot of trouble if they’d been pressed, but as in many cases, if you make waves and challenge then you’re dropped permanently. Full respect to her company creating achievements but no respect at all for her duty of care, or whatever she chooses to call it.

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