World Opera Day 2022 celebrates the birthday of George Bizet and Johann Strauss II. This year’s theme is “Unboxing Opera” which refers to the millions of videos to be watched on the World Wide Web, where users unbox products in front of their camera. They are filming themselves in the process of revealing the received object, and analyse and explain it to their virtual audience. The videos are usually enthusiastic and reflect the emotion and excitement someone can feel when discovering something new. Opera goes far beyond a product that can be taken out of a box, but isn’t revealing opera, sharing its content, explaining its functioning, bringing it closer to people, and sharing strong emotions while discovering new art, the mission of World Opera Day?
Beyond the reference to the videos on YouTube, the opera boxes still found in traditional opera houses often recall the elitist image of the genre, and ‘unboxing opera’ evokes the idea of bringing it out of a rigid place and suggests to break the limits of the art form. World Opera Day is celebrated on 25 October, the birthday of Georges Bizet and Johann Strauss II, composers of possibly the world’s most famous opera and operetta. It is a day when opera companies, along with artists, opera lovers and opera professionals may show and celebrate the value of the art form.
To celebrate World Opera Day 2022, we’re excited to share our BVOF 2023 performance dates with you… Save the date! Blackwater Valley Opera Festival will take place from 29 May – 5 June 2023.
1000s of visitors to this year’s Blackwater Valley Opera Festival enjoyed our four opera performances in the grounds of Lismore Castle, our schools night at the opera – a free, full scale dress rehearsal production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in the grounds of Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford; as well as classical music concerts and recitals, and free lunchtime open-air lunchtime recitals in Youghal, Fermoy, Lismore and Dungarvan. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival is Ireland’s Summer Opera Festival, joyfully engaging audiences through a creative and imaginative programme of opera and classical music in the beautiful Blackwater Valley. The festival showcases emerging Irish talent alongside established international artists and delivers memorable and inspirational experiences which enrich the cultural life of the region.
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