#OperaToo? by Various, No (2022/2022), De Bijloke, Ghent, Belgium

Also in opera, bad guys often have the most rewarding roles. In Mozart's 'Zauberflöte' the Queen of the Night doesn't even have to do that much, but everyone is waiting for her tirade full of top notes and evil triplets. But how much venom and sexism is there in arias that are less conspicuously gross in anger and rage? How innocent is the virility of a high tenor note and how sexualized are the melodic folds of a soprano part? When it comes to tough issues of gender and stereotyping, opera has a lot of work to do. Yes, the notes are fixed and the makers are often dead for centuries. Shall we leave it at that or do we carry on in correctness? The students of the International Opera Academy are dancing on the tightrope between lust and reason.