It has been a while since my last column.  Relocating to Parys in the Free State from Randburg in Gauteng while busy with the launch of  Sempre Opera, a non-profit opera company that I founded last year, took up plenty of time.  But expect more going forward as we learn more about opera together.

With almost 20 years’ experience on opera stages around the world, I found the news of a South African group who will be giving opera an “African feel” very disturbing.

The group takes opera and re-contextualises it in a township setting.  One of the directors of the group was quoted in an article saying that she loves Puccini and would never do anything to jeopardise his work. 

 She said that the group simply adds in a drum and “enhances” the music “to make it better”.

But what is that other than threatening the origins of the opera as intended by the composer?

The overall aim of the company is to make opera appealing to township dwellers that have never been exposed to it.  A problem, however, is that, with the “enhancements” to the original music, the people that will attend these operas will  still not be exposed to true opera.

I had the privilege of singing alongside Sibongile Khumalo in the Zulu opera Princess Magogo ka’Dinuzulu (music: Mzilikazi Khumalo; libretto: Themba Msimang) in Chicago and Oslo (Norway) and this can be seen as a truly South African opera that successfully combines Western and Zulu musical phrases.

How would Khumalo and Msimang feel if I took their opera and “enhanced” it for European audiences by translating it into Italian and adding traditional Italian instruments such as the organetti (a small diatonic accordion) to educate them about African music?

Opera exists within a certain context.  It has a history spanning from the 16th century with the first opera said to be Dafne by Jacopo Peri, and composers such as Mzilikazi Khumalo still writing new operas today. 

Education about opera should cover as much of the art in its original form as possible, or else its rich past will be lost to generations to come.

Perhaps these attempts at “modernising” opera are the reason that many people I meet, after finding out I sing opera for a living, ask me what I think of Il Divo and Josh Groban’s “opera” music.

I can only shake my head and pray that, one day, the general population of South Africa will once again enjoy true (live!) opera in their communities.

Stéfan Louw is an internationally acclaimed opera tenor who has been singing for almost two decades.  For more information go to www.stefanlouw.co.za.  If you would like to contact Stéfan you can send an e-mail to citizen@stefanlouw.co.za.