Discordia Hall in Amsterdam

Discordia Hall in Amsterdam

The question of whether a cultural institution should be accessible to everyone should, of course, be answered in the affirmative.

Everyone, regardless of background, income, age, or physical ability, should have access to culture and the arts. In reality, of course, there are always practical obstacles, such as financial, physical, or geographic barriers. Cultural institutions can gather and present a diversity of perspectives and experiences that, in the aggregate, enrich cultural opportunities. For a cultural institution with a monopoly, such as the Dutch National Opera, it is almost a moral obligation to present programs that appeal to a broad and diverse audience. This can be done, for example, through reduced prices, special programs for certain target groups, but above all through a varied offer.

Zauberflöte in Peru

In the area of diversity, the Dutch National Opera is seriously failing. Opera lovers who are attached to a libretto-compliant performance are often called “traditional”. This is nonsense. If a restaurant that serves rice and potatoes decides to serve potatoes only, do we suddenly call rice lovers “traditional restaurant-goers”?

For the so-called “traditional opera lover,” opera is an episodic art form that is best enjoyed when the composer and librettist are unconditionally accepted and respected and no disgusting shenanigans are pulled by the director, such as Die Zauberflöte in Auschwitz or “moving” Aida to Evita Peron’s Peru.

“We get used to singing against the music.”

Holy Grail #1 and #2

The holy grail of opera houses that want to be stamped “progressive” in their cultural passports is the eternal adage “young people”. An utterly nonsensical claim, since most young people naturally grow old and then enter a phase of life in which they might be more receptive to opera. But no, proudly quoted are the percentages of the growing number of “young people” who are now being dragged back into the Amsterdam Opera Dungeon at greatly reduced (or 0) rates.

At the Dutch National Opera, holy grail #2 is “diversity”! Diversity in Amsterdam is mostly defined in terms of pigmentation, both in the auditorium and on stage. Expressly excluded from this diversity are the lovers of libretto-compliant performances that have not been undermined by lame directors with world-view pseudologia fantastica. The culturally conscious aficionados have already been driven away, have long since canceled their subscriptions, or are already dead and buried, a welcome circumstance for the “modernization” of opera.

The dead wood has been cleared away and the way is open for the Dutch National Opera to count internationally by implementing a program of “modern directed” operas and experimental puke like the recently dug out foul-smelling Fidelio, directed by the complete moron Andriy Zholdak. Balanced programming like that of the Royal Opera House, with (I will adopt the misleading terminology for a moment) both “classical” and “modern” productions, is no longer even considered.

The sincere opera lover has been eliminated in the obsessive pursuit of what is supposed to be a wider audience, the term “wider” being used in a discriminatory way. The National Opera pursues a totalitarian policy of one-sided Volksbildung desired only by the General Director and her vassals. Fortunately, opposition to such practices is growing, even internationally.

As the Russian dissident Lev Kopelev said, “Totalitarian state powers can arrest, torture, and kill literati, artists, and scientists. But they cannot create a culture to their liking.”

Olivier Keegel