Opera Is Having A Moment In Fashion And Pop Culture

We have seen Chanel host a recent runway show at the Paris Opera for Paris Fashion Week, and the rise of Opera Gloves as a fashion trend (something Beyonce paired up with a Schiaparelli dress). That’s not to mention opera cape-inspired designs by Marc Jacobs, or the latest collection by Kyiv fashion brand TTSWTRS, which reimagines opera attire.

Maria Callas has always been a go-to fashion icon in opera history, but she will return to the spotlight in a major way this year. There is a new film about the opera singer and style icon, called Maria, starring Angelina Jolie. Directed by Pablo Larraín, the film made its debut at the 81st Venice Film Festival on August 29 and will stream on Netflix later this year.

Italian opera singing was recently added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, too, while Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo designed costumes for an opera production of Orlando at the Vienna Opera House in Austria.

All of this contributes to the cultural renaissance of opera in pop culture, and fashion is part of it. One industry expert who is watching this happen is Alvise Casellati, who is the founder and music director of Opera Italiana is in the Air, which is happening tomorrow in New York City. The concert will be located at Central Park’s concert venue, the Naumburg Bandshell, starting at 6 p.m. (the event will be livestreamed). Casellati aims to inspire a new generation of opera lovers and redefine its role in the future of classical music, with a .

“The problem with opera today is access,” said Casellati. “Over the past 50 years, opera was wrongly perceived to belong to high society, attended mainly by old people. But today, opera can be shared with everybody.”

Places like the Met Opera have discounted student prices, a Young Associates Program, and they don’t have a dress code to attend shows, making it more accessible than opera was in the past. Meanwhile, Opera America’s Opera Teens program is for teenagers who share a passion for opera.

“That’s why I founded Opera Italiana is in the Air, to give the opportunity to everyone to get to know the world of opera and attend our top-level performances for free,” adds Casellati.

It’s hard to believe that opera was in fact pop music for society, hundreds of years ago. “The truth is, that it belongs to everyone, is performed by young people and still reflects today’s society,” he adds.

Casellati calls opera “the most complete art form, as it contains performance, singing, acting, visual art, and costume design.”

Some may view opera as uptight and stuffy, but if you have never seen a live opera performance, it’s worth checking out—especially if it’s free and in Central Park. “Opera is full of passion, it speaks of human feelings and values,” said Casellati.

“It’s an experience that must be lived by everyone. It’s healing the souls of people and making us think of who we want to be in life while providing the best form of entertainment through music. It’s for everyone because it is the best form of entertainment at the lowest level and the highest possible cultural experience at the highest level.

Opera has changed in recent years, mainly to dazzle the audience. This has both positive and negative factors. “The music sometimes subsists to the need of impressing the public, but with lack of respect towards the composer,” he notes. “On the positive side, singers became real actors, and everything seems real.”

Some of the opera’s most iconic pop culture moments of late include Marina Abramovic’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, a production she toured performing alongside actor Willem Dafoe. There was also a recent Milan Fashion Week runway show organized by Dolce & Gabbana at Teatro La Scala in Milan. Film director Sofia Coppola directed Traviata at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma with costumes by Valentino.

The event tomorrow will be hosted by NBC host, Chloe Melas, and kicks off with the Hymn of the Nations by Giuseppe Verdi, followed by a fusion of national anthems from several countries, “showing that music unites us all,” notes Casellati.

Additional performances include Mascagni and his Cavalleria Rusticana Intermezzo, Puccini’s arias and duets from Turandot and La Bohème in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s passing, Mozart’s Don Giovanni. This year will see performances by soprano singer Latonia Moore, tenor Kang Wang, bass George Andguladze and composition by 12-year-old composer, Isaac Thomas.

Casellati, who founded the event in 2017, studied with Maestro Vincent La Selva at Juilliard School of Music and was later mentored by Maestro Piero Bellugi. He rediscovered the forgotten Italian operas of Alberto Franchetti (best known for the 1902 opera Germania) and aims to make Italian opera accessible to all.

The high-profile musicians hail from the Met Opera and the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. As for stage style, the musicians are keeping it informal with a smart casual dress code. “I asked my orchestra performing in Central Park to dress casually and wear an Opera Italiana polo shirt, so that the public does not see our world as a bubble, but lived by real people,” he said.

“It will be a casual, intimate, warm atmosphere where people feel at home. It’s a part of enjoying the power and the value of Italian culture.”

Opera Italiana is also collaborating with the Music Therapy departments of New York City hospitals like the National Children’s Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Music Therapy department, too. “We are bringing up the level of what music can do—healing souls,” he adds. Jean Shafiroff is hosting an exclusive event in her home for the charity.