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EDITORIAL Phone +44 (0)20 7333 1701 Email opera.now@markallengroup.com Editor-in-Chief Ashutosh Khandekar Associate Editor Helena Matheopoulos Contributing Editors Francis Muzzu, Tom Sutcliffe Robert Thicknesse (UK), Francis Carlin (France), James Imam (Italy), Karyl Charna Lynn (USA), Andrew Mellor (Scandinavia), Ken Smith (Far East) Design Louise Wood, Jenny Watson ADVERTISING Phone +44 (0)20 7333 1716 Title Manager Craig Dacey, craig.dacey@markallengroup.com Group Sales Manager Alisdair Ashman alisdair.ashman@markallengroup.com Advertising Production Daniela DiPadova, +44 (0)20 7333 1727, daniela.dipadova@markallengroup.com SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES Phone UK 0800 137201 Overseas +44(0)1722 716997 Email subscriptions@markallengroup.com Subscriptions Manager Bethany Foy UK Subscription Rate £70 PUBLISHING Phone +44(0)20 7738 5454 Publishing Director Owen Mortimer Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy Luca Da Re Marketing Manager John Barnett Group Institutional Sales Manager Jas Atwal Production Director Richard Hamshere Circulation Director Sally Boettcher Managing Director Paul Geoghegan Chief Executive O€ cer Ben Allen Chairman Mark Allen www.markallengroup.com OperaNow, ISSN 0958-501X, (USPS 9346) is published monthly by MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $92. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Opera Now, WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd, Unit A, Buildings 1-5 Dinton Business Park, Catherine Ford Road, Dinton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5HZ. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. © MA Music, Leisure and Travel Ltd, 2021. All rights reserved. No part of Opera Now may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the publishing director. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editor. The presence of advertisements in Opera Now implies no endorsement of the products or services offered. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of statements in this magazine but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors, or an advertiser not completing their contract. We have made every effort to secure permission to use copyright material. Where material has been used inadvertently or we have been unable to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. Please read our privacy policy by visiting http://privacypolicy. markallengroup.com. This will explain how we process, use and safeguard your data. Printed in the UK by Pensord, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, NP12 2YA Newstrade distribution by Seymour 020 7429 4000
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Don’t let the red tape hold back our global talent
There have been many sad and alarming consequences for opera resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Now another perfect storm seems to be brewing, in tandem with an ill wind from Brexit in the form of hard borders and travel restrictions. Red tape and the need to quarantine have severely curtailed the ease of movement of opera singers and creative teams around the world.
Opera can be proud of its global reach, established through centuries of international co-operation. There is no other artform where performances are given as a matter of course in the original language no matter where in the world the work is being staged. As for the performers, where else would you find Koreans, Uruguayans, Estonians, South Africans, Chinese, Russians, Americans – the list goes on – sharing stages in every corner of the world, united in an extraordinary act of cultural collaboration? Opera is by no means perfect in the socially progressive stakes (equity of pay and conditions remain pressing issues in many opera houses), but it far exceeds, say, football and politics in cutting through cultural and social boundaries that hold talent back.
Our cover artist, Hera Hyesang Park, tells her personal story of how opera has enabled her to transcend cultural boundaries. Her time studying at the Juilliard School in New York led her to challenge her traditional upbringing in South Korea. In the end, her training as an opera singer allowed her to resolve differences and find reconciliation between her own cultural values and those of an artform where selfexpression and empathy are paramount.
Opera has always been an artform of global opportunities. Maria Callas, an immigrant Greek-American, became the toast of Milan and Paris. Joan Sutherland emerged from the Australian suburbs to cause a sensation in London and New York. From provincial towns in Italy (Pavarotti, Freni) and Bible-Belt America (Price, Norman), from the backwaters of Mexico (Domingo) and from farming stock in Sweden (Nilsson), opera has been a springboard for the most extraordinary talent drawn from humble beginnings.
Cultural internationalism, especially in the postwar era, has been a driving force in giving opera a special sense of dynamism and excitement. Freedoms are always hard won but easily lost, and the existence of travel barriers, though temporarily necessary, should be vigorously resisted as we move out of the cultural dessication of this dreadful pandemic and back into a glorious melting-pot of artistic exchange.
Ashutosh Khandekar
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Opera Now captures the drama, colour and vitality of one of the most powerful of all the performing arts. In our print and digital issues, we showcase the creative spirit of opera, both on stage and behind the scenes, with profiles of opera companies, singers, directors and designers. Our in-depth features reflect how diverse cultural elements have influenced opera, including travel, history, literature, art, architecture, politics and philosophy. Our lively reviews and opinion pages are a platform for writers and critics drawn from all over the world. Our aim is to inspire our opera-loving readers to broaden their knowledge and deepen their passion for this fascinating and stimulating artform.
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