National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed Francesca Zambello, an opera director who is —reimagining— opera to be more appealing to a wider audience.

The interview started with her saying that a good performer can convey the meaning of what may be unintelligible to the common listener, who has no command of languages, by the manner in which he or she performs.

Ms. Zambello then went on to make two very interesting points. She spoke about how opera should be performed in the vernacular —“ the local language. She also made points about how the libretto should be changed since it need not stick directly to the authors’ words.

Toward the conclusion of the interview she put a very fine point on the subject by saying that we must not treat these things as sacred. She reiterated the point about de-sacralizing the music and the text.

Here’s the story lead-in: Wagner’s ‘Ring’ Reimagined in America

All Things Considered, March 24, 2006 —¢ Picture the Rhine as an American river and the Niebelungs (dwellers of the underworld) as members of America’s underclass.

A bold new interpretation of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle, setting its timeless tale of the corruption of power in a more contemporary American setting, is premiering at the Washington National Opera.

At the helm is Francesca Zambello, a superstar among opera directors. She has taken Das Rheingold — the first in Wagner’s four-opera series — and recast it from a distinctly American viewpoint.

…

She talks to Robert Siegel about reimagining Wagner’s operas and her use of America’s rich storytelling tradition and mythic past to involve a contemporary audience. She argues for making opera more accessible to wider groups, including teenagers, and she discusses her work as a storyteller — whether it’s staging Puccini’s La Boheme sung in English or Aladdin at Disneyland.

Now doesn’t that sound familiar. Opera has caught on to modernity.

Function in the vernacular and change the text. Treat nothing as sacred because we have to appeal to a wider audience. Otherwise no one will understand what is happening. And there aren’t that many good performers anyway…