I was reading the historian Tacitus’s account of Teutoburg Forest while Oscar-hopeful Timothée Chalamet was making headline news. A clip of the actor was circulating: no one cares about opera or ballet any more, he said. Opera attendance is plummeting, its core audience slowly dying, and it’s much the same for ballet and classical music too. If first you have to admit you have a problem then we are a long way from arresting the tailspin opera, ballet and the like find themselves in. The performing arts, the cultural elite, the literary universe and academe have to be honest about their condition – to us, yes, but to themselves first.

Source: The Irish Times March 12, 2026 22:18 UTC