{"id":1603448,"date":"2025-12-04T09:53:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1603448"},"modified":"2025-12-04T09:53:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:53:05","slug":"amid-governmental-interference-opera-at-the-kennedy-center-is-flourishing-for-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/12\/amid-governmental-interference-opera-at-the-kennedy-center-is-flourishing-for-the-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid Governmental Interference, Opera at the Kennedy Center is Flourishing\u2014for the Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jo\u00e9lle Harvey, Will Liverman and Rosa Feola as Susanna, Count and Countess. Photo: Scott Suchman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No U.S. performing arts institution has ever faced the firestorm of controversy and criticism that has enveloped the John F. Kennedy Center since earlier this year! Soon after Trump\u2019s inauguration, the re-elected President was selected as board chair of the Center by a group newly appointed by him. Dismissals and resignations abounded as a dramatic \u201crebranding\u201d of the District of Columbia\u2019s prime entertainment complex was put into motion.<\/p>\n

Reports eventually surfaced that the takeover caused ticket sales and charitable contributions to plummet, and most recently, long-planned performances have been canceled or postponed to accommodate the 2026 FIFA (F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association) World Cup Draw taking place on December 6. A controversial agreement related to the soccer event has sparked a congressional investigation, alleging corruption and cronyism.<\/p>\n

I was curious how the Washington National Opera, one of the Center\u2019s prime constituents, was being affected by the upheaval. I hadn\u2019t attended a performance by the Washington National Opera since 2018, and when I mentioned I was going to the Kennedy Center for Mozart\u2019s Le Nozze di Figaro<\/i>, I was met with surprise and dismay. Many opera lovers have declared that they will no longer visit the venue due to recent governmental interference. WNO artistic director Francesca Zambello strongly addressed this attitude in a recent interview with Parterre Box in which she proclaimed, \u201cBy boycotting us, you are killing art!\u201d<\/p>\n

When I arrived at the final Nozze<\/i> performance on November 22 (coincidentally the 64th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy), I expected to survey empty rows and a smallish crowd of demoralized opera-goers. Instead, the Kennedy Center\u2019s Opera House was filled with an excited, quite dressy (as compared to a typical Saturday night Met crowd) bunch, audibly eager for Mozart. When buoyant WNO General Director Timothy O\u2019Leary stepped in front of the curtain to make a pre-performance comment, I scanned the theater\u2019s Orchestra section around me and saw nary an empty seat. O\u2019Leary referred obliquely to the Center\u2019s current fraught circumstances when he remarked that everyone these days needs a comedy (cue rousing applause), and Peter Kazaras\u2019s antic, inventively detailed Nozze<\/i> production\u2014abetted by jokey colloquial projected English titles\u2014delivered that in spades.<\/p>\n