Many of these changes have been driven by the 25-year-old Cape Town Opera.
Experts say South African opera has developed its own regional style in the three decades since the end of apartheid, both in terms of performer structure and dramatic themes.
With South African stars making their mark on the international stage, opera has boomed since racial barriers were broken down in 1994, drawing talent from the country's fine choral tradition and establishing itself as a key player in a hugely diverse cultural landscape.
Many of these changes have been driven by the 25-year-old Cape Town Opera.
The company was founded by Italian-born Angelo Gobato, a former singer who co-founded the company five years after the end of apartheid and received a lifetime achievement award in March for his contributions to South African opera.
When the company was founded, Gobbato was involved in Donizetti's dramatic Lucia of Lammermoor A lead singer was invited from overseas.
The opera's just-concluded 25th anniversary production had an all-South African cast with just one white singer, which he said was a good example of change.
After white minority rule was abolished, “we suddenly got a lot of interest from black students wanting to be trained in opera,” Gobat, 81, told AFP.
“This was quite unusual because the Cape Town opera school had coloured students, non-white students, but no black students.”
Also read: Behind the Scenes: Cape Town Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor
Famous singer
His students included the internationally acclaimed Pretty Yende and Levi Sekgapane, many of whom came from local choirs trained in the Western sign language style.
“They responded very naturally to opera and wanted to sing,” said Gobat, who is now retired.
And as the performers became more representative of South Africa's racial makeup, so did the audience.
“I feel like a grandfather,” Gobat said.
“I don't have any children or grandchildren, but when I look at my students, I feel incredibly proud of them and know they have done something for their country.”
South African opera used to be a niche art form catering mainly to white audiences, says soprano Brittany Smith, who will play the tragic heroine in this year's production. Lucia of Lammermoor.
“Cape Town Opera is now at the forefront of reintroducing opera and making it more enjoyable for everyone, and that's what we exist for,” the 29-year-old told AFP as she prepared for rehearsals at the Nelson Mandela Theatre.
Smith highlighted the company's outreach program, which brings performers into schools and towns to expose young people to the essence of theater.
The opera's dramatic themes are relevant to South Africa today, said co-star Conroy Scott, a deep baritone who honed his voice in church choirs.
Also read: Opera singer Pretty Yende receives global praise after a challenging 2023
“South African genre”
“It deals with real issues, real human emotions. It deals with politics, sex, violence, child abuse, death – issues that haven't been fully resolved yet,” the 43-year-old added.
Critic and author Wayne Muller has argued that post-apartheid European stagings of classical opera developed a distinctly South African style in the portrayal of characters and music, and in settings that were more recognisable to local audiences.
a La Boheme In his 2023 book, he writes that the play is set in Cape Town's District Six neighbourhood, bulldozed by apartheid authorities, Macbeth plays a Central African militant leader and Porgy and Bess profess their love in a Soweto shack. Opera in Cape Town: what the critics say.
“The process of transformation of arts and opera in South Africa is by no means over,” Muller said.
“Nevertheless, the opera is African, and there is an ease with which even the standard Western European repertoire can make it relevant here,” the critic added.
“As scholars and artists have noted, opera has become a South African genre – an art form that originated here.”
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