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Western and Chinese Opera

It is fair to say that my knowledge of both the Western and Chinese opera  are strictly that of a beginning amateur. Yes, I know and can sing poorly the words“the fourth son visiting his mother 四郎探母”  and“Ganlu Temple 甘露寺".  I can name the  “four great opera actors”  . But that is all. As far as Western opera go,  my knowledge of the art is at the same level. Once a year, I go with my wife,  who is a music lover, to a live performance of  the Metropolitan opera in New York city. Occasionally,  there will be an enjoyable  aria in the opera that I know. But when the ticket price for a second balcony seat reached US$300, I refused as being wasteful for me.

Historically,operas, both in the West and in China, are popular medium for the masses beforethe advent of radio, TV, movies and other forms of modern entertainments.Gradually, audience for operas dwindled due to such competition. In the West,opera becomes a luxury and/or  prestigious entertainment supported by the wealthy. But the media itself also  innovated by adding elaborate sceneries/costumes and above all adapting to modern  technology. For example,during  performances of the Met opera in New York city,  they are simultaneously or delay broadcasted to movie theaters on giant screens  all over the world in high definition TV. Closed up and captions not available in live  performances are added to the screen to increase enjoyment and understanding.  During intermission or between acts, such broadcast will feature backstage interview of  stars  and musicians as well as interesting back-stories about the performance and historical  facts of the opera and composers. Such facts not even available to the live  opera audience help to make the performance interesting to a much larger population of middle or lower income since the best ticket only cost US$18.00. The broadcasts also generate considerable income for the medium and  allow it to survive and prosper.

On the other hand, it seems to me that the Chinese opera did not innovate and  still clings to the old minimalist philosophy (e.g., very little scenery during performances and no attempts to make the medium popular through broadcast as described above).   I am aware of the CCTV operatic channel. But the few sample shows I have  seen appear to be just re-broadcast with little or nothing interesting added .  As a result, it is my impression that Chinese opera is on the decline and may becoming  a dying artform. It cannot compete with other entertainment medium such as radio, TV, andmovie. Readers correct me if my impression is wrong.