Over at Daily Observations, fellow Portland blogger Charles Noble has made a couple of musical predictions and started a wish list for 2009. Be sure to stop by and take part in the discussion.
I gave up trying to tell the future after someone filched my Magic 8 Ball in high school, but wish lists I can do. So here are a few opera-related things I’d like to see in the new year:
- That live Met simulcasts continue to increase in popularity and frequency, and that movie theaters and booking agencies are able to overcome the commercial, contractual, financial, or technical obstacles that currently prevent us from also seeing performances from San Francisco, La Scala, Salzburg, and Glyndebourne.
- A renewed commitment from regional and national opera companies to present a wide variety of works from outside of the standard operatic canon, as well as a promise to market these productions with the same level of energy and enthusiam that are typically reserved for such shows as Traviata, Boheme, or Carmen.
- A recording project devoted to 18th- or 19th-century vocal performance practices, one that aims to shed new light on such issues as articulation, phrasing, tempo, rhythm, vibrato, ornamentation, and embellishment.
What would be on your operatic wish list? Take a moment or two and share your own thoughts and ideas.
dramma per musica 
While I like wish #1 particularly and my wife and I have been to all the Met-Hd live simulcasts, I’m haunted by comments from a couple sitting behind us at one of them: “This is so much better than attending an opera in person. Better price, better view of the performers, more interesting intermissions, easier parking and a better time.” For some opera patrons, I fear it will come down to a choice between attending simulcast performances and in-person performances and I doubt that the outcome will help local companies. I hope I’m wrong and would love to hear others explain why.