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Made in Japan Opera
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18092 |
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THE ARTS
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11 / 1990 |
1,920 Words |
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David Tracey
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Tokyo is known more for driving the powerful Japanese economy than for its contributions to Western culture, but it may now be able to boast a new title: the opera capital of the world.
No, the Japanese are not about to flood the globe's concert halls with exported divas. Made-in-Japan opera, in fact, is decidedly below international standards. Domestic productions tend to be hampered by inconsistent singing and weak acting. Young Japanese performers with potential invariably head overseas to seek the expert training they know they can't find at home.
But for the opera lover, at least, Tokyo in recent years has become something of paradise. Lured by the mighty yen, a dazzling array of the world's operable can be seen in any season. This pool of great talent has boosted the popularity of opera far beyond the traditional patrons in evening gowns and tuxedos. The number of opera lovers has grown to the point where performances are now held in sports stadiums, including the massive Tokyo Dome baseball park. It's all a part of what the Japanese are calling an "operaboomu." And unlike some fads in Japan such as the 1960s, "group sounds boom" that had thousands of amateurs buying electric guitars to imitate Ventures hits, opera shows every sign of continuing its popularity into the next century.
Screaming Rock Fans
In one month at the end of last year, opera fans had the choice, among others, of watching an imported Arena de Verona production of Aida in the National Olympic Pool Stadium or hearing a solo recital by Luciano Pavarotti in the Budokan (a huge hall usually filled with screaming teenaged rock fans.) This was just weeks after Maria Ewing and Jose Carreras starred in Carmen, the Vienna State Opera performed Mozart's The Magic Flute, and solo recitalists included Placido Domingo.
Ticket prices ranged from the relatively inexpensive (for Japan) to the almost unbelievable. For $32 you could get a seat in the Budokan hall for Pavarotti's recital, but you would have felt closer to the ionosphere than the stage. Top-priced tickets, which included admission to a dinner attended by the star, went for more than $400. Just the program printed up especially for a recital by Placido Domingo a few years ago was sold for more than $150.
Japanese opera lovers--at least new ones--cite the hefty figures with the same hushed tones of awe that people everywhere would use. Nevertheless, the most expensive seats are typically the first to sell out, months before a performance. Part of the appeal of opera-going in Japan is the extravagance of it all. Paying eye-popping prices for foreign productions with their elaborate stages, trained elephants, and casts of hundreds goes along with the current rage for BMWs and food sprinkled with gold flakes. The Japanese throughout their history have never been this rich before, so who can blame them for wanting to live it up now?
Overdressed Boors
The recent rediscovery of opera in Japan (it was introduced more than seventy-five years ago) has created audiences of decidedly varied levels of appreciation. Aficionados of the art may find themselves seated next to first-timers wishing they had
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