This continues a series of guest columns on how technology is reshaping hobbies and passions – basket weaving, rugby – whatever.
This time it is Guenther Tolkmit, who heads Worldwide Development for Lawson Software writing about his love of opera.
“Is this an oxymoron? At work, I drive technology change at a breathtaking pace. At the same time, I am becoming more and more conservative in life. At least in my hobby – my love of opera, mainly compositions by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Traditional, as in:
- As the world shrinks, I have seen performances all over the world but my favorite opera House is still the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.(in photo on right below) Maybe because the interior is mainly wood. Maybe because it has no galleries or boxes. Maybe because the orchestra is invisible to the audience. Or may be because it dates back to 1872.
- In a Twitter world where 140 characters are too many and a 3 hour movie is considered an epic, I am a big fan of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen which runs over 15 hours. And yes, like many I am sorry to see the Met in New York retire the famous Otto Schenk production after a 22 year run.
- In a world where everyone gets ”fifteen minutes of fame” on YouTube and American Idol, I feel nostalgic about the soprano from New Zealand, Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa. Particularly her rendition of Richard Strauss’s Capriccio at the San Francisco opera from the 70s.
Opera, of course, seeks fans way beyond conservative ones like me, and this is where it has benefited from innovation and technology.
As with many people raised in Europe I saw my first opera early on in school. But it was not before I met my current wife about 25 years ago that I re-discovered opera. The musical, Phantom of the Opera was the spark. Our first love was Italian opera (Verdi, Donizetti and Bellini). It was tough not to enjoy the Bel Canto of the three tenors – Pavarotti, Domingo, Carerras – live on stage. But it was our first visit to the world-famous La Scala (in Milano) which re-introduced us to German opera. Parsifal conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in London completed the conversion to Wagner.
It is impressive to see how technology in opera has evolved since my childhood in at least 4 major areas:
Opera House Design
Because they are designed for relatively large audiences, large casts and large stages, opera houses tend to be standout structures. And it is good to see newer ones like in Dallas and Olso (photo on left below) built in this century also take a prominent place in their cities. Of course, snobs like me don’t like opera houses shaped like fruits (like the Durian in Singapore) but it is tough to argue with the investment they are making in acoustics, stage lighting, seat placement, parking facilities etc. The Met Titles innovation of translations on screens at every seat from 1995 seems so old today.
Opera Production
Opera is big business. Future seasons are planned three to four years in advance. Work on a new production begins many months before it is due to open. The formal rehearsal period for a new production of average size is generally five to six weeks. And yes, the singers who have a similar star status than Hollywood celebrities. So it is not uncommon to cost $ 500,000 per show - for sets and costumes, artist and stagehand fees and musician costs. Indeed it is quite common that productions are shared by multiple theaters (e.g. Milano and München). Most depend on a wide range of revenues from ticket sales to donations to memberships (and in Europe subsidies). All this requires sophisticated project management, financial accounting, website technologies. Specialist software like that from Tessitura is aimed at opera and other creative management.
Opera Stage Technology
Invisible to the audience, revolutionary changes to the stage technology have happened everywhere (even in Bayreuth). Behind the scenes it looks more like the NASA control center in Houston. Also creating the illusions on stage is a matter of technology now rather than stage hands moving the scenery. Then there is broadcast technology. Last year, for the first time ever, a Bayreuth production was simulcast to an open stadium (inconceivable without high-class technology) as well as transmitted over the Internet.
Opera Fan Support
It has become so much easier to hear, see, share opera. I still happen to believe the best recordings were made over 50 years ago - not because of the recording technology but talent like Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen and Sir Georg Solti. But audio technology has since evolved from Edison Wax cylinders to MP3 players to satellite radio. I mostly listen on iPod given my travel routine. Friday night from Chicago to Frankfurt I listened to Die Walküre von Friedrick Furtwängler from 1956. We can get Opera DVDs and even watch it live at a local movie theater in High-Definition. Through Facebook, Twitter and other social tools we can now discover fans with similar interests around the world. And yes, each of us is now a critic! Most Opera Houses now have on-line ticketing – if I were to find myself in Sydney in August I could get advance tickets for Beethoven’s Fidelio. Last minute tickets have become easier to find with sites like StubHub. Of course, opera can also suffer when technology fails. For hours, many of us could not access the Met’s booking system to see Lorin Maazel play there after a prolonged absence.
Richard Wagner was considered a maverick in his time. Somehow I have a feeling he would be on the forefront of some of the technologies I mention above. The traditionalist in me is glad opera has stayed relatively unchanged over the centuries. In other ways, I am glad technology is making opera available to so many and will allow future generations to continue to enjoy what I love.
Let me conclude with the video below I hope you enjoy of Peter Hofmann and Jeannine Altmeyer in the famous duet Winterstürme from Die Walküre. And the provocative thought that to me opera (music) and software (technology) are actually one and the same. Both require complex abstraction and modeling – they materialize in our heads, but delight our senses”
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