The Royal Opera House is often associated with opera from famous composers such as Verdi and Mozart and ballet from composers such as Prokofiev. In June, it will be staging a production of Jocelyn Pook’s opera, Ingerland, advertised as “a big, raw, energetic exploration of the world of the football crowd.” The Independent has more:
Football fans have been among the most dedicated appreciators of opera. Every weekend, all over the country, scarcely a game passes without the assembled masses erupting into a lyrically reworked version of one of the higher art’s catchier arias.
When West Ham fans chant “Paolo di Can-i-o” for example, it is at least partly in homage to the genius of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La dona è mobile”, which provides the original tune.
This summer, however, the roles will be reversed when, in an effort to shake off opera’s “posh” image, singers at the Royal Opera House will perform a number of the football terraces’ most famous refrains.
Among a trio of “Opera Shots” – short operas lasting less than half an hour – in this year’s summer season will be Jocelyn Pook’s Ingerland. The libretto enlists Millwall Football Club’s classic: “No One Likes Us, We Don’t Care”, Liverpool’s favourite, “Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, He’s Big and He’s Fucking Hard”, not to mention a chorus of WAGs deliberating over whether or not to undergo cosmetic surgery.
I wonder if any of the singers in the following video will be performing?: