{"id":414,"date":"2018-10-31T11:42:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T18:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999924084"},"modified":"2019-07-11T09:58:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T16:58:04","slug":"andreas-mitisek-isnt-interested-in-how-opera-should-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/andreas-mitisek-isnt-interested-in-how-opera-should-be","title":{"rendered":"Andreas Mitisek isn\u2019t interested in how opera ‘should be’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opera is often perceived as an esoteric artform with a high barrier to entry. You have to have gobs of money. You have to wear satin gloves that stretch above the elbow. You have to own tiny binoculars. You have to speak multiple romance languages. You have to have an unending attention span.<\/p>\n

Or do you?<\/p>\n

\u201cOpera is not as scary as it sounds,\u201d Andreas Mitisek, Long Beach Opera\u2019s artistic and general director, says over coffee and waffles at Signal Hill\u2019s Black Bear Diner. Ever since he was a college student in Vienna, Mitisek has lived to make opera\u2014opera his way, not opera as \u201cit should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Andreas Mitisek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He\u2019s not interested in convention, high society, or pleasant evenings spent toasting each other with crystal goblets. Instead, Mitisek\u2019s productions are political, confrontational, and challenging, staged in unorthodox venues such as parking garages or the Port of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

And they bring our deepest ethical conflicts into conversation. Take the 2018-2019 season, which starts this Saturday, November 3 and is themed \u201c#JUSTICE.\u201d The first production,\u00a0 “Three Tales” by Steve Reich\u00a0is described as a “documentary video opera” and uses video to delve into the Hindenburg explosion, the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, and Dolly, the cloned sheep. Scored for two sopranos, three tenor, string quartet, percussion, keyboards and pre-recorded audio, each segment reflects on the growth and implications of technology during the 20th century and the ongoing debate about the physical, ethical, and religious nature of our expanding technological environment.<\/p>\n

Upcoming productions will explore spousal murder, death row, the role of the bystander and the Central Park Five. While other companies tend to sprinkle experimental or contemporary fare in among the classics\u2014Don Giovanni, for instance, or Orlando\u2014Long Beach Opera exclusively runs the former.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want people to feel that art still has such relevance that they have to speak out for or against it. I\u2019m not interested in museum art,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you want to sit back and relax, don\u2019t go to our show.\u201d<\/p>\n