A New Philosophy of Opera

""[Sharon] challenges the status quo and proposes radical new ways to present operas new and old. Expect insight, originality and some contentious views that will stimulate debate."" -- Richard Fairman, Financial Times, ""Best Books of 2024: Classical and Pop Music"" ""Persuasively argued and filled with lively and approachable details, A New Philosophy of Opera brims with Mr. Sharon’s passion for the form...His own productions, discussed in the book, offer fascinating examples of how Mr. Sharon rethinks and recombines opera’s basic elements of text, music and theater in ways that upend expectations."" -- Heidi Waleson - The Wall Street Journal ""Yuval Sharon’s A New Philosophy of Opera is a refreshing, reassuring book about an old art form’s bright future...Opera has always been less like fiction and more like poetry, says the author: ‘looser, more associative, and more interested in potential meanings that arise from familiar words being used in unfamiliar ways.’ Whether rethinking an old work or creating a new one, Sharon means to keep it that way."" -- David Kirby - The Washington Post ""Thought-provoking...an indispensable handbook for making opera matter in the 21st century."" -- Mark Swed - The Los Angeles Times ""There is no doubt that Sharon has a brilliant and inquiring mind, and this book gives ample evidence that he knows how to construct his case convincingly and with care...Yuval Sharon has written a manifesto that is by turns polemical, prophetic, poetic, prescriptive, and practical. All of it bespeaks a brain that is constantly seeking to tease out a particular thread of artistic truth."" -- Peter Kazaras - Los Angeles Review of Books ""Part cultural history, part aesthetic manifesto, it’s a shrewdly provocative book that envisions a future for the art form profoundly rooted in a radical past. And it’s inextricable from Sharon’s own experience with opera, both as an audience member and as a creator."" -- Nate Chinen, WRTI, ""2024 Gift Guide"" ""[I]n this treatise for the artform...Sharon is most compelling when writing from personal experience, particularly when highlighting the differences between opera in Germany and the US."" -- Claire Jackson - BBC Music ""...a manifesto for the future of the art form."" -- Graham Meyer - WBEZ Chicago ""Detroit Opera artistic director Yuval Sharon has a celebrated history of reinventing opera. He shares his views on opera as a living, breathing, evolving art form in A New Philosophy of Opera, a new book published this fall."" -- Detroit Free Press ""There's no doubting the deep personal experience underlying [Sharon’s] observations, which include frequent reflections on opera's history, marshaling evidence to demonstrate what has and has not worked in the development of this most exotic —and, Sharon argues, collaborative— form of both art and entertainment. He offers his analyses and surprisingly few prescriptions as a prolegomena for the future of an art that has, over five centuries, been dying, or said to be...Sharon's book is deeply thoughtful and proposes changes along the lines of clearly defined principles."" -- Tim Pfaff - Bay Area Reporter ""Sharon argues convincingly that opera has to get out of opulent concert halls and find alternatives to its image of elitism, an approach that he is pioneering with his work in Detroit...Sharon provides an authoritative view of how opera can and must return to its dynamic, populist roots."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""Yuval Sharon is one of the most inspiring opera directors on the planet today and a remarkable ‘mensch.’ Yuval’s fresh examination of what can be done to make the art form more relevant and alive for the next generation is essential for anyone who treasures music, theater, and opera!"" -- Gustavo Dudamel, music and artistic director, Los Angeles Philharmonic ""Yuval Sharon has written a timely prescription for the challenges that opera faces, and he is exactly the right person to do it. With A New Philosophy of Opera, Sharon applies the bracing creativity evident in his innovative stagings to a broader question: How can a centuries-old art form remain relevant and vibrant, today and in the future? If you care about opera, or are just curious about its meaning now, this book is essential reading."" -- Renée Fleming, author of Music and Mind ""Imagine the book Jimi Hendrix might have written about the blues. That’s what Yuval Sharon, a virtuoso practitioner with a boundless imagination, has done for opera. His New Philosophy emerges from the genre’s deepest roots and takes us on an exhilarating journey toward a nearly utopic future. This book, which also vividly captures the experience of Sharon’s productions, convinces me this future is not only possible—it’s already happening."" -- Osvaldo Golijov, composer of Ainadamar ""A New Philosophy of Opera is the must-have guide that focuses on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of opera today. Through care and vision, Yuval Sharon pulls back the curtain to showcase how collaborative efforts and talents lead to one of the most beautiful and compelling modes of storytelling. Recognizing that opera has an elitist problem, Sharon invites everyone in. He not only welcomes all to engage with a genre that can speak directly to the heart, mind, and soul—he provides a map to bring us there."" -- Naomi André, author of Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement