Everywhere you look, politics are seeping into opera. In New York, Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb, accompanied onstage by Democratic senator Chuck Schumer, gave a rousing opening-night speech defending freedom of artistic expression. The Met’s audience, not usually known for its progressiveness, booed Schumer for failing to endorse mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Three weeks […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
The Rhizome
Every piece of music has a political context, including the person or institution commissioning the work, the space in which the music is performed, the funding mechanisms and the audience’s social background. In the 20th century, complex contemporary music was generally associated with democracy, because it represented a form of individual expression that was unacceptable […]
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Playing Along
American classical music institutions have been quiet lately. Quieter than they were about the murder of George Floyd. Much quieter than they were about the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Individual musicians have often been more outspoken. But in recent years institutions have taken political positions often enough that their current silence is surprising. When […]
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A Stale Start
Since last week, the conclusion has come to seem inescapable: By sticking with its new chief conductor François-Xavier Roth despite allegations of sexual harassment surfacing against him last year, the SWR Symphonieorchester—the renowned Stuttgart-based radio orchestra with a particularly strong contemporary-music reputation—has lost its way. Cancelling his contract following the allegations might well have led […]
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Selective Empathy
When it comes to the Middle East, people regress into totalitarian positions and tribal logics with sobering speed. Where do you stand? Are you “pro-Israel” or “pro-Palestine”? Do you say “genocide,” or don’t you? In some parts of the Free Palestine movement, activism against the Netanyahu government goes hand-in-hand with the glorification of Hamas as […]
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Machine in the Gods
When Richard Wagner’s Festspielhaus opened in Bayreuth in 1876, it boasted the latest in theater technology. From its covered orchestra pit to its state-of-the-art lighting and stage machinery, the theater’s technical innovations were meant to mirror the composer’s experimentations with harmony, structure, and form. The Bayreuth Festival was inaugurated with the first complete performance of […]
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Solidarity When It Suits
On Saturday, Oliver Mears, the director of opera at London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, walked on stage at the curtain call of “Il Trovatore” to try to take down a Palestine flag that was unveiled by a dancer. Mears began to aggressively rip the flag from the performer’s hands, then stormed off the stage when […]
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A Covert Holiday
The recent release of political prisoners in Belarus became possible thanks to the consistent and targeted efforts of the United States. These efforts began a year ago under the Biden administration and yielded their first results in February 2025 with the release of both U.S. and Belarusian citizens. That month also marked the first time […]
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The Work, Naked
The centenary of Pierre Boulez’s birth on March 26 has already had a positive outcome: his music is actually being performed more often this year. More than most composers, he has suffered from being known for something other than his own music, remembered far more as a conductor and a leader of musical organizations like […]
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The Hands, Distracting
There’s an image embedded in my head though now lost in the depths of social media. It’s from a minor league baseball game, a promotional night where fans made their own signs and paraded them around the field. And there it was, an ur-meme: “Give Me Ambivalence or Give Me Something Else.” That’s resurfaced in […]