AMONG THE FLOWERS (Royal Opera)**

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/COSUCT2jw0X 

Available until: 30^th May 2021

It is important for opera companies to try to reach out to new audiences. While there are young people like me and some of my siblings who genuinely enjoy opera and have even, in some cases, either sung arias or even appeared in an opera, young opera fans do seem to be few and far between.

The ‘far between’ part is particularly relevant when you consider that many people don’t like to attend events alone. In some cases, this is a simple and understandable matter of wanting to feel safe, particularly on the journey home late at night (and while women might be particularly at risk, it is completely all right for men and other genders to feel nervous too), but a number of people feel that attending events alone is somehow wrong and that it needs to be a social event.

Therefore, it’s necessary for opera companies to reach out to new audiences and I feel this is what Among the Flowers is trying to do. Posting an opera on Instagram is a great idea. A lot of young people have Instagram so it could attract more fans, but you don’t actually need an Instagram account to watch it so no-one’s being left out.

It is commendable that the Royal Opera wants to do this. It really is. But in doing so, they have to avoid alienating the fans they already have and they also need to make sure that what they’re producing is what it aspires to be. Perhaps it wasn’t intended to be, but I’m not sure Among the Flowers is an opera.

It’s about a woman who is alone in lockdown and struggling to cope. Thoughts flow through her mind and appear onscreen as newspaper headlines. It’s clearly designed for a classical voice and the singer has a lovely rich voice, though it can be difficult to hear it over the electronic background music and the drum beat.

There’s nothing wrong with electronic music and drum beats. It would probably be possible to write an electronic opera and I don’t think all opera necessarily needs to be classical music, though it might end up feeling more like a musical if it’s in another style. But there are a few things missing from Among the Flowers which stop it from feeling like an opera.

With any type of performance which traditionally happens live onstage, even if we’re actually watching digitally, the full performance is presented from beginning to end. Even if we’re watching on demand, you can still get that feeling of living through the situation with the character. Among the Flowers, while definitely told in a valid way, might well have been recorded in one go, but it was difficult to feel emotionally connected to the character, especially as they’re never seen.

The video is mostly of things like flowers. The images move so quickly, it’s difficult to focus on one and the effect can be disorientating. If the images were shown at a slower pace, it might be easier to watch and also more representative of lockdown – it’s not really a time where life seems to be rushing by. It’s also difficult to connect with the character when they’re never seen. The headlines are on display long enough to be read, but newspapers are a surprising choice from an opera which is clearly trying to move into the 21^st century with very modern music and Instagram.

I love the idea – lockdown has produced deep, overpowering emotions in many people and the situation does seem suited to opera. I love the medium – there might be limits to the video lengths on Instagram, but other than that, it is as valid as any streaming service. Matt Huxley’s music might be a bit outside what qualifies as opera, but he undoubtedly has an individual voice as a composer and I do like his work. Lucy Goddard sings really gorgeously. There are a lot of good things in Among the Flowers, but it does feel a bit too far outside what I think of as opera and I’m not sure it would really show a newcomer what opera is all about.

But there are much worse ways to spend ten minutes and Among the Flowers does show the Royal Opera’s commitment to new music, their desire to attract new audiences, their willingness to embrace new media and their very high standards of performance. All that can only be good.