Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Gérard Mortier n'est plus

I did not know Gérard Mortier personally, but he was THE person who I truly admired in the world of Opera.
He was the one who made me love opera and who made me realize that opera is actually not dead art. 



This is a devastating news for opera. He was a person of importance, capable to resist the tsunamis of conservatism, who articulated his dislike of the pitiful opera productions, unambitious projects that reduce opera to singing on a kitchy stage [cf. 90% of new productions at the Paris Opera, the Met, or at the ROH /where Holten is trying to change the things/] 

He was a man who saw opera as a vector to further humanize our lives, to question our certainties, doubt our principles, and bring more nuances to our lives, more beauty and more tolerance... He was incessantly trying to democratize opera and pluck it from the claws of those rich who see in opera just an entertainment value...

Will Peter de Caluwe and a handful of other talented visionaries be able to fill his shoes, to resist and prevent opera from falling 100% back to the hands of aggressive ultra-conservatives?!
I certainly wish and hope they will...


I am very very very sad today :( 


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