Something like 3% of all adults in this country attend opera, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. It has always been considered an elite art form and its popular followers remain tiny. The Nashville-based municipal opera company has taken a number of steps to expand interest in its art form. Nashville is the home and commercial center of country music – there are thousands of musicians in the area and chances are, outside of the opera performers, none of them sing in Italian.
The Nashville Opera has focused on temporizing its product by developing educational programs in the community and performing distinctly non-classical compositions in opera format, including one written by a country-western artist. One of the cool things they have undertaken at the end of their current season is providing podcasts with director commentary. These podcasts are downloaded from the Opera Company website, one for each of the three acts from their latest production of the year, Romeo and Juliet.
With the iPod in hand and ears positioned, opera-goers should begin recording their MP3 at the first note of the act. They are then provided with a short audio and video podcast with commentary from the director as the opera progresses through its scenes. The cast members are also involved, describing what is happening on stage as the cable audience member listens to the cast member describe what it’s like to be going through the beats.
The Nashville Opera understands that an iPod in your ear while watching a classical production sung in a foreign language can be distracting. That is why they are suggesting that the viewer use the comment as an enhancement on their second visit to the performance. That speaks not only to the impressive creativity of the Nashville Opera in incorporating technology into their productions, but also to their marketing acumen.
Interviews with attendees who took advantage of podcasts for Romeo y Julieta productions showed mixed reactions. For many, it was not so much a hassle as a sensory overload. Many who appreciated the drama and the magnificent singers had trouble absorbing the voice in his ear and the face in his lap. The marketing director for Nashville Opera has a viable concept in the notion that the commentary would add an extra dimension to a second viewing of a production.
Some viewers loved the addition of the comments, particularly the parts provided by the players themselves. It has to be a fascinating dichotomy, listening to a mezzo-soprano pronounce a complicated aria with an amazing experience while her everyday voice describes the experience in the other ear.
The role of podcasts as a complement to live events remains to be established. But what the Nashville Opera has done is an impressive step in bringing its musical performances created hundreds of years ago into the world of 21st century entertainment. It is conceivable that what is an overload for an opera veteran is a natural combination for a child of technical age.
Children who have grown up with iPods can find a second component of audio in the ear as natural as sitting in class and listening to tunes. With a little persistence, the Nashville Opera can turn its combination of classical music and drama with portable media into the next product on Apple’s iStore, or the next market Bill Gates is trying to corner.