by Kristen Nevarez Schweizer
June 4, 2024
“Will that be a single or double pour?” The bartender asked before San Diego Opera’s Madama Butterfly.
We stood underneath the historic chandelier of the San Diego Civic’s Grand Salon. The glittering light fixture includes 52,000 Bavarian crystals and weighs 2,800 pounds. It is a visual reminder: at the opera, one can indulge.
With half a bottle of champagne in one tall cup, I headed into the massive Civic Theater to experience heart-wrenching art. My first foray back into Opera in nearly a decade served as a reminder of why the 400-year-old art form continues to drive audiences to tears.
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly tells the tale of a Japanese teen used and abandoned by an American man. The controversial opera forces modern artists and audiences to consider Orientalism—defined as Western audiences employing the tropes of sexuality and mystery on Asian peoples—as the bad, white guy ultimately drives the heroine to suicide. This sordid tale remains popular because it still provides an exploration of unbalanced power and a cathartic relief in naming the heavy unfairness.
Catharsis is possibly the purpose of art. Catharsis, defined as ‘the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions,’ can also be called purging, purification, cleansing, and relief. Aristotle used the term to define the cognitive and emotional effects of tragic stories and certain music because this release allows humans to process suffering. Catharsis is so powerful that German playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote plays that did not resolve significant emotions to force audiences into social action to complete their release. Epic, tragic, often ancient stories heightened by the orchestra, awe-inspiring voices, and grand sets and costumes make opera potentially the most cathartic art form.
Despite its weight, The San Diego Opera’s 2023-24 needed to pare down its 2023-24 performance schedule in response to the post-pandemic decline of ticket sales and rising expenses affecting opera companies worldwide. Their last season featured only three mainstage operas, with two performances each, rather than the four offered in the past. To break even, productions must nearly sell out the 2,800-seat Civic Theatre which they fortunately achieved with Madama Butterfly in April 2024. This season, SDO first-time ticket buyers grew by 26 percent last season. Their Hispanic audience grew by 19 percent compared to the 12 percent pre-COVID, thanks to offering both Spanish and English subtitles. They have grand finale to their current year and a smart 2024-25 calendar planned for their sixtieth season line-up.
Audiences can look forward to catharsis and dazzling talent in the world-class, one-night-only experience ending their 2023-24 season: Joshua Guerrero and Andrea Carroll in Concert on June 8, 2024, at the Balboa Theatre. The concert features tenor Joshua Guerrero and soprano Andrea Carroll—two respected, fresh vocal artists—returning to San Diego Opera for the first time since 2020. The night also includes a sneak peek of a filmed version of Daniel Catan’s La hija de Rappaccini, which San Diego Opera is preparing to premiere.
For those who have long loved opera or those looking to experience catharsis and understand why the art form leaves an evocative legacy, tickets to the concert and their upcoming season can be found at www.sdopera.org.
