Opera with aftershow and dj. That is to say, a Trovatore with subsequent clubbing. Or a classical concert with a rave waiting at the doors of the auditorium. What seems like a contradiction in terms is being imposed as a proposal that integrates naturally, because for fluid young people, stopping listening to an aria to start listening to a rap is not at all strange. It is part of their way of being in the world, as the psychologist and psychoanalyst José Ramón Ubieto maintains.
Attracting young audiences continues to be one of the headaches of opera and classical halls around the world. The facilities have been implementing disruptive educational projects for a couple of decades, but that has not translated into a drop in the average age of the capacity. The formula in vogue is to program some of the functions at a reasonable price only for young people, and entertain them with an aftershow that places them in their environment: foodtrucks, DJs... whatever it takes. Tristan or la Bohème go out for drinks.
“What will make them repeat the operatic experience will be a positive memory. Talking is establishing the experience, so the idea is that people do not walk out the door and forget what they have seen, but rather have the opportunity to comment on it with other spectators", argued the general director of the Liceu, Valentí Oviedo, during the presentation of the recent CoNCA report on the practices of international classical and opera programming.
The formula that has been at the Liceu for five seasons and that operas such as the one in Lyon or Geneva put into practice before, was soon copied by the Teatro Real. "It ensures that opera is not seen as a proposal from another planet with respect to the type of music that young people usually consume", says the artistic director of the Madrid Coliseum, Joan Matabosch. This autumn, with the joint project Vibe 35, it has been extendable to other facilities in Barcelona.An adventure that ends this Monday and Tuesday at the Palau de la Música Catalana after having experienced the Mercat de les Flors, the Teatre Lliure, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, L'Auditori and, obviously, at the Liceu itself with Il trovatore.
Yes, the Palau opens today in this winning formula, although with a less risky combination: the screening of Metropolis by Fritz Lang with Juan de la Rubia on the organ will be followed by a performance at the Petit Palau by jazzwoman Magalí Datzira, courtesy of the Cruilla Festival. Just like tomorrow, Clara Andrés will sing after Don Giovanni de Òpera a Catalunya. There will be atmosphere in the bar, but the modernist windows will not shake with the decibels of a DJ.
Is this how these genres will capture young audiences, or will the formula serve to fill specific functions without further consequences?
“Any initiative to bring young people to a cultural event is great, even if it is a trial/error. But what worries me are the medium and long-term objectives and strategies of the facilities”, says the baritone Enric Martínez-Castignani, author of the aforementioned CoNCA report.
“Those initiatives collect a huge database, but what do we do with it? –He wonders– Do they serve us to know the public? Will the Vibe35 equipment cross data? Well, today the young public is not there to be trusted. What he wants is to go to the Liceu one day, another to the Lliure... And what will happen when they get over 35: will they have created a habit? Will they pay full price? Should the proposal abound or is it when it is scarce that it is desired? If it is always available, it is no longer exclusive 2 or 3 times a year”.
Castigniani has studied how some European theaters work (La Fenice in Venice or the Grand Théâtre de Gèneve), and halls such as the Philharmonie de Paris, the equivalent of L'Auditori Barcelona. And he has detected other formulas.
“La Fenice does something very Italian, which is to put the DJ as an aperitif. It is after the young people see the show and the connection with what they have just seen is not diluted or stopped. Because if we offer the DJ and the foodtrucks so that they can socialize and not forget what they have seen, the problem is ours, because the product that we have given them has not impacted them. And that is the mark that will make them want to return to the room”.
For Castigniani, youth seeks to be treated without labels, "they are a community with many profiles"; he wants them to be offered consistent projects, to be spoken to in their language and not as children, and to be offered really different experiences, even if they are punctual. “Those formulas can be refined and have to encompass before, during and after the experience,” she says.
In this sense, the new mayor of the Grand Théâtre de Gèvene, Aviel Cahn, did not hesitate to summon the youth to the theater that had just been renovated. Three times a year he organizes this type of clubbing until 2 am with partners from alternative culture. In addition, apart from offering appetizers, he invites you to spend the night once a year in a musical happening that combines styles.
But what do they practice in Germany, epicenter of the genre? There they are no strangers to the post-function DJ, but they reserve it for programs that differ from the typical night at the opera. This is the case of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, which has also created the Opera Lounge, a format that presents arias and songs in a casual setting, with people in the foyer sitting on sofas, glasses in hand, and with interviews with young singers .
There is also an unusual Magazine in the warehouses where the sets are kept: there the same musicians of the orchestra play both electro and jazz as well as arias... Although the most interesting thing is perhaps that ClassicCard App that 12 theaters, orchestras and choirs have launched of Berlin to easily acquire cheap tickets for people under 30.
