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WINNER OF THE 2020 AWARD FOR
BEST INDEPENDENT COMPANY
FROM 360 OF OPERA
Watch Don Giovanni
This famous Mozart opera was performed live in October 2019 in New York City.
bare Opera looks toward the future
2020 drove us to lean into and further explore our mission to innovate and re-imagine opera. More to come in 2021.
Revolutionizing the way we experience opera in A socially distant 21st century
the buzz
![[Screen capture of the online world premiere of ‘The Presence of Odradek,’ a virtual reality opera by David Rosenmeyer and Malena Dayen based on the works of Franz Kafka’s The Cares of a Family Man.]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/544bd51ae4b09c0863effd5a/1590759547113-8X9CTUHBWCCD37QUQL1B/IMG_6273.jpg)
[Screen capture of the online world premiere of ‘The Presence of Odradek,’ a virtual reality opera by David Rosenmeyer and Malena Dayen based on the works of Franz Kafka’s The Cares of a Family Man.]
“The experience is designed with the intention of having viewers interact with their screens and shift them around to explore all the unique visual perspectives offered up throughout the performance. In one moment, you might see a singer performing with a second popping up just above him or her; to access that view, audience members can touch on their devices or remotes to shift the vantage point in either direction.
[“The Presence of Odradek,”] which is based on Franz Kafka’s “The Cares of a Family Man,” is experimental in nature with the music shifting in styles and even musical effects throughout. At one point, one vocal line gets repeated over and over, the sound effect decaying and fading the initial recording more and more to express the passage of time and the loss of memory of that initial performance. It’s this kind of constant musical experimentation that keeps “The Presence of Odradek” ever-fascinating.
The performance lasts roughly 45-50 minutes, but the constant shift and momentum of the production makes them fly by, making you wish you could stay in that world a little longer.”
“When is the last time you heard the word “daring” paired with “opera”? How often have you been thrilled by the arias but cringed at the tired plots and ridiculous character turns? If you find yourself on that list, run to Bare Opera. It might not save the medium all on its own, but it’s a damn thrilling start.”
““Opera is trying so very hard to be cool again, giving into hackneyed techniques like liquoring up its audience or offering up scantily clad soprani. Bare Opera doesn’t need to try to be cool, because they already know they are cool. The sheer joy they take in performing Rossini’s work is infectious. This cast, crew, and production leave the audience breathless and exhilarated. Opera may be old fashioned—maybe—but Bare Opera knows it’s as relevant today as it was 200 years ago.””
““...a feisty little opera company. If you like young voices, up close and personal, castanetting up a storm, there are pleasures to be had here.””
““Buzz words like ‘alternative’, ‘minimalist’, ‘immersive’, ‘intimate’, and ‘visceral’ can be tossed around as a cover for ‘cheap’ but Bare Opera lives up to its mission so effectively that we would follow them anywhere, even to a walk-up loft, hard by the toxic Gowanus Canal. The audience was far younger than that which we customarily see at the opera.””