The age of opera

Opera is not only for geriatric, walker-bound patrons of fine arts. It is often assumed that young people are afraid of embracing the finer arts of opera and the many offshoots it has spawned over its four-century existence --- ballet, symphony and musicals. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Yes, even in ambitiously artsy Seattle -- where liberal arts colleges outnumber conventional universities three to one, and the idea of member Mondays at local art galleries and student nights at Seattle Opera rivaling ladies' night and happy-hour hopping is simply unheard of -- it is possible for young people to embrace and understand opera.

Perspective is the key. Opera is a different portrayal of many stories and emotions that are very much a part of our everyday lives. The historical retelling of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, classically retold stories by Victor Hugo and Antoine Francois, love, sex, deceit, tragedy and youthful angst are things we are all familiar with to some degree and these are all themes and inspirations for Seattle Opera's 2005 season.

Opera is beautiful and capable of showing the intense emotion that other forms of expression are powerless to portray. Yet without proper understanding, operas are confusing, boring and foreign.

The average college student today was born in the early 1980s along with Atari. By the time we reached high school, the Internet was prevalent enough to require classes devoted to it, thus giving birth to the idea that those not utilizing its power would be left behind. In college we have online classes, a new form of video gaming every year and 24-hour news on five channels on top of the regular educational loads that were dispensed on the older generations.

This is not to say that we are incapable of being touched by opera. On the contrary, today's college students should look at it as a chance to discover something about their identity. Try to imagine your life today if you had never read a novel or been to a concert or met a friend whose story or passion has profoundly affected you. Then imagine the capability a centuries-old art form has. Imagine being on par with such knowledge.

This is what it means to experience opera at any age. Interest is commonly called an appreciation when you talk of finer arts or delicate cuisine. But in the same way an assassination is just murder, an appreciation for opera is as simple as an interest in video games -- it just takes exposure.