The crucial relationship between critics and opera producing companies is
often difficult (even contentious). Here is another very recent wrinkle in the
ongoing struggle between one of the most powerful opera companies in the world
and the press, explored in The New York Times this week - read the article here. Censorship? Prudent concern over image? Comments? (I love to
get feedback about these blog posts.)
- BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin
I think if Opera News is no longer reviewing one company (particularly the one that supports it), it should stop reviewing others in fairness. If it is to be openly a PR vehicle for the MET by protecting its interests so obviously now, it should not be a source of criticism of other companies. If it wants to continue to be considered a respectable source of criticism for the field, it should include all companies and should not exclude that company. Otherwise it is wielding too much uneven power in furtherance of itself and not of the entire field - the stable ecology of which helps to support the very singers who might end up on the stage of the MET. I think it's a question of what Opera News wants to be going forward. Other opera companies don't have the choice to be excluded and this publication has such a distribution.
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