In truth, common sense ought to have kicked in at Music Theatre Wales, which created the production, long before The Golden Dragon reached the stage. The opera’s music and libretto are by white men; the staging was designed and directed by white men. The fact that common sense clearly did not kick in points to a problem with diversity in classical music that goes far beyond operatic casting. That often means casting those whose training involved years as a cathedral chorister followed by an Oxford or Cambridge choral scholarship. This may seem almost laughably old-fashioned to many, but it is the kind of thinking (with some honourable exceptions) that remains too common in classical music.

Source: The Guardian October 15, 2017 17:26 UTC