In support of Kyung-wha Chung

So  Kung-wha Chung told the parents of a tetchy child: "Maybe bring her back when she's older" and the media explodes as though the violinist was a triple-headed monster. Chung is not the first musician to object to coughing and other disruptions during a performance.  Some have even stopped playing until the audiernce settled down. Thomas Quasthoff would regularly berate audiences until his concerts became more performance art than performance. So whats new?

Chung hasn't been able to play for ten years due to injury. Much more was hanging on this concert for her than any ordinary recital. Of course she would be tense. In the circumstances, anyone would be tense. What's wrong with a bit of human kindness?   She was wrong to have snapped at the parents rather than at all the others who were coughing, but she was addressing a genuine and very important issue. Performers are not machines,who must deliver whatever the circumstances. Audiences owe it to themselves, and to artists, to respect those who perform. The concert hall should not be treated like your own living room and the performer as a servant who must obey.

Should Chung's comeback be derailed because some journalists are more interested in a story than in music?  Imogen Tilden in the Guardian seems to think it was a form of child abuse: perhaps the article was irresponsible clickbait since most of the comments do not support her. It's plain nonsense to suggest that Chung didn't want children to listen; she herself and many of her generation grew up with classical music as background. Even in London, many children go to concerts, and are often better behaved than adults.  If the child at the Royal Festival Hall was miserable, surely the parents should have noticed? I've missed gigs because my children weren't happy. Forcing culture on an unhappy child is cruel. It's not the parents' fault either but the media misconception that culture is easy, even when you're small, tired and hungry. As Chung said, bring the child back when it's able to cope. Besides, what example does nasty journalism set? That it's OK to harass one performer and not others? That it's OK to treat performers like chattels?  And what about compassion?   I do not support the bullying of  Kyung-wha Chung, but respect her for her courage.

Is introducing children to opera smug parenting or a valuable cultural eye-opener?

"Is introducing children to opera smug parenting or a valuable cultural eye-opener?" asks Chris Shipman of the Royal Opera House, ahead of a new opera for two to six-year-olds, entitled Dot, Squiggle, and Rest. The toddler-friendly opera will feature puppetry, dance and animation and has been intended as an introduction to the art form. Simple answer: depends on the children, depends on the parents.

There are plenty of smug, self-obssessed and status-mad parents around, who use their children to promote themselves. Kids are not stupid: they pick up on false vibes. Little Ptolemy and Little Drusilda might rebel but chances are that they'll grow up just like their parents, using opera as a consumer product to prove that somehow they're superior to other people. For people like that, opera becomes a weapon with which to beat other people up. Literally as in a recent case. Imagine if the assailant had been an underclass rapper and the victim an opera-going taxi driver?  No, it's not alright. Maybe children of such parents grow up to be successful because they don't let anyone else get in their way.

On the other hand there are a lot of parents who want their kids to grow up to be happy human beings. The arts, and opera in particular, are an ideal way to introduce kids to the world beyond themselves.  Children naturally learn from fantasy, so opera is an extension of story-telling tradition.  Unlike movies, opera is physical theatre, so children learn how magic can be made by overcoming technical challenges. Above all, children can learn to listen to other people's ideas, and develop their own emotional responses. As a culture, I think we are becoming too materialistic and too literal. Most children haven't yet lost that sense of wonder and openness that is the basis of creative imagination. Opera isn't a gateway to "culture", but a way of learning about emotions, relationships and artistic expression.

Many operas are written for children. Some are a lot better than others - as all operas will be. Benjamin Britten, who was a bit of child himself, passionately believed that opera for children could be exciting without being patronizing. A while back, I wrote about the brilliant Noyes Fludde at Blackheath, devised in conjunction with a local school, so the kids became involved at all levels. The children's eyes shone with excitement, their minds clearly active with ideas. A miracle to behold. Then a cynical adult sneered "That wasn't a proper rainbow". The death of imagination is the death of art.

In continental Europe opera for children is a well-developed genre. Zurich Opera does a wonderful Mozart The Magic Flute specially for children (available on DVD) . It's not trivialized. Children can understand the idea of overcoming trials. The Wiener Staatsoper does an even more interesting Wagner Die Feen, which adults can learn from too (See my review here)  A friend's 3 year old so loved the Ceebeebies Prom that he was high for days. My son, aged two, enjoyed Amahl and the Night Visitors so much that he ran out and stood near the stage, transfixed. I didn't stop him. He was as good as gold, taking in every moment. Last year, at Faust  at the Royal Opera House, I sat near a girl aged about 9 or 10.  Obviously a rich little girl, Russian I think, with governess and minder. The little girl watched with avid concentration, leaning forward.  Faust for a child ? Why not? What's so difficult about an old man who sells his soul to be young and happy again?  Gretchen dies, but other fairy tale heroines suffer grim fates, too.  This little girl was clearly entering into the experience and getting much more from it than her attendants. Obviously an intelligent child, not at all someone to be patronized. She'll grow up an interesting person. So, yes, opera for children, but the right children, the right opera and the right motivations.

Read my numerous other posts on children and opera/classical music, such as Will childrren ever learn about operaand End the \Missionary position in classical music

How children learn about opera in China

How to help kids love opera? These days every decent house needs "outreach" partly to develop genuine interest and partly to justify funding. Some of my recent posts on the subject : Will children ever learn about opera ? and End the Missionary Position in Classical Music

 Here's how children learn about opera in Hong Kong. These schoolgirls were given a brief to make a documentary about any subjectb they liked and somehow picked Cantonese Opera with its long and complicated history and sub-genres. They had to research the subject for themselves, read up, do interviews and then do the "practical" working with opera personnel as well as with film makers. They wrote the script and presented it themselves. The film is six years old  and the final sequence about Chinese opera in English is misguided, but these girls are in PRIMARY school. This isn't a single occasion, but a regular experience for many kids in many schools. I went through that system too though I didn't do it until the first three years of secondary school. It was my school that pioneered the system sixty years ago. They did a full production of Purcell Dido and Aeneas. and even sewed the costumes themselves.  I was seven, way too young to be involved, but remember being fascinated.  A few years ago, they did The King and I which went on to DVD and sold well.

The secret of real education, I think, is to learn by doing: self motivation and fun. The subject doesn't matter, and the whole class gets involved. It's also a good way to teach kids how to organize themselves and project manage. Good multi-skilling training for life in general.