World Opera – bordering on the impossible
If all goes as planned, the year 2012 will see a world premiere of an entirely new type of opera, when artists in Norway, Sweden and Denmark will perform together with their colleagues in the USA, Canada and Italy. Together and simultaneously, but at different locations. There are many challenges along the way, but the starting shot has been fired and the work has begun.
The idea is to realise an opera performance in several places at the same time, each with their own audience. The opera will be an assembly of “live” and virtual elements combined with advanced technology.
“World Opera is about bringing the world together. Both the audience and the artists get to experience the opera together with other people who live far away. This is not an easy thing to realise. On the contrary, what we are doing borders on the impossible”, says Professor Niels Windfeld Lund, who is coordinating the project.
The challenges are artistic, technical and cultural. A successful production requires good relationships between the artists. Modern technologies are employed to serve the needs of cultural production. The project coordinator is, however, optimistic.
“Opera is a rather universal form of art, but its traditions differ to some degree in different parts of the world. It will be exciting to bring together different traditions in a one and same performance. Another exciting aspect is the cooperation between the artists and the technical staff, where two very different professional cultures meet”, says Niels Windfeld Lund.
The starting shot, the World Opera Symposium, was supported from the module for capacity development, criticism and sharing of knowledge of the Art and Culture Programme.
The World Opera Symposium was organised in Tromsø during 8 – 10 May 2008.
www.theworldopera.org