Arcana imperii
How the Dutch opera lover is implanted with the illusion that she/he has something to say. How she/he is lulled to sleep.
WHO’S ON THAT JURY?
Through its club magazine, The Dutch National Opera has issued a puzzle for its readers: what was the best opera in 2025? In order not to make it too complicated for you, a “jury” has already determined that 5 operas qualify. Some substantiation for the choice from right these five operas is missing.
And as far as we can see, no names of jurors are mentioned. We have no idea who served on that jury. Nor is it known who selected the jurors. State secret! If the 5 best operas have already been determined for the Dutch opera lover, then surely he or she also wants to know WHO determined that for us, the audience (the voting and applauding public). In the best DNO tradition: the audience, a minor detial in the Dutch opera scene, has no business interfering with that!
Now vote, and quickly!
LARGE NUMBER OF OPERA CONNOISSEURS
As for the jury lineup, there is talk of “a large number of opera experts” and of “opera critics and connoisseurs from daily newspapers, websites and radio.” But who are they? And what is “a large number” of opera connoisseurs: 10, 100, 1000 ?
Especially the mentioned “opera reviewers of websites” are interesting. What is certain is that a truly independent and the oldest opera website of the Benelux (Opera Gazet) has been asked nothing.
