Opera Finds a New Muse: Anime Flows From Vancouver Opera's Mad Styles

(Above: Fidelio as immortalized in comics by Vancouver Opera's OperaLive!)

Opera sometimes needs a kick in the pants(role) every now and then to resuscitate the sluggish soup and get the blood flowing to all those necessary & lovely extremities. We want to tingle, we want to sweat...let's all agree that we like our opera rugged & raw.

We've found an unpredictable & successful mix between opera and pop culture via OperaLive!, the media-filled sister website of their more serious parent site, Vancouver Opera, who has already moved onto Plan B while everyone is cruising along with predictable Plan A.

Combining condensed versions of libretti with anime & manga, Vancouver Opera has created a slick promotional and education tool, the perfect elixir to sway the under 30-something prospective opera fans, and elucidate opera's timeless tales as a sweet chaser.

We hate to gush with lust for the VO, but this is one of the most innovative culture jams we've had for opera since the Opera Chic blog O_o We're just down on our knees thankful that they did just straight up manga. We don't want to see Fidelio in a little schoolgirl's outfit attempting physically impossible ~things~ with tentacles.

Via the always awesome Vancouver Opera blog, you can find anime/manga versions of productions past & present, and almost all are a collaboration between editor Roy Husada and Fiona Meng's artwork. 

Go visit for full comix of Eugene Onegin, La Boheme, Fidelio, Cavelleria Rusticana, L'italiana in Algeri, Pagliacci, and Tosca. [Click on "READ" from the main menu ---> Click on "MANGA" from secondary menu]

~*~(Above: La Boheme)

(Above: Eugene Onegin)

Comments

[chris]

The idea may be okay, but the Barbie doll like drawings sure are not. Is everybody or almost everybody in opera under 18 years of age?

[Coloratura Tempura]

Chris, that's the point: what you call "Barbie doll drawings" is the wildly popular style of Japanese comics, it's a visual language that's immediate to million of kids worldwide. I think it's a great idea because it tries to talk about opera in a language that kids immediately get!

[Victor]

Nice idea, it's useless to drag kids to the opera if they have no idea what's going on there. It's useless to be snobs about such attempts; I welcome them.

[kat]

I love this idea. Manga is one of the biggest hobbies of the younger internet generations across the planet, and tons of disposable income is spent on collecting them. It's a vernacular that is immediately recognizable, and I also think Vancouver Opera has tapped into something valuable.

Let's face it: trying to explain the opera plots to teens or people who aren't even interested in the artform is a difficult task. This medium bridges that gap.

[PM]

This is really opera for the people! It's also important to note that manga/anime, although embraced by many cultures, derives from Asia. Vancouver's population will probably embrace this more than say a metropolis such as NYC, as the influx of Asian immigrants makes up a majority of the population.

[G-Wag]

Fidelio's a babe! Does that mean I'm gay or not? Confusing...Oh hang on look at Onegin. That's me outed. I really like things like this. There's a really good Proust in "bande dessinee".

[William Osborne]

Sadly, it's true, most opera librettos do indeed make good comic book material.

[Evan T]

This is a brilliant move for connecting with young people. Imagine the connections that could be made immediately in public school music programs. Students could be engaging in an in depth discussion on the plot of any one of these operas based on the Manga and extensions in class. They could begin thinking about and even composing music that they think fits the plot based on the Manga before listening to the original versions. This type of connection could create great excitement for young people wishing to listen to opera and attend performances who might never consider it otherwise.