Opera can be its own worst enemy. Sets, soloists, costumes, lighting, chorus and orchestra don't come cheap. And when these costs are reflected in high ticket prices, charges of elitism can easily stick.
This isn't too big an issue for Hong Kong, however, where students can get a ticket to see Massenet's Werther next month for only HK$90. The Opera Hong Kong (OHK) production is one of the three events that marks its fifth anniversary this year.
'Some of our [committee] members buy tickets and donate them to the less privileged and to some schools,' says Paddy Lui Wai-yu, the chairwoman of OHK. 'We also invite students to the dress rehearsal; we reserve around 500 seats for that.'
But making opera-for-all an ongoing reality needs significant input from the authorities.
'No opera company can be self-supporting,' says Lui. 'You can put on a few productions but you can't last forever. It needs to receive funding from the government.'
Although leading opera stars are happy to support OHK by giving solo recitals - such as mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, who performs next Wednesday - it's going to take guaranteed cash to keep afloat the company's vision of an extended, four-opera season each year.
