What is new about Opera Plus?
The website Opera Plus has been a guarantee of high-quality coverage of the arts for almost five years now. The person behind it is Vít Dvořák, a graduate of production at Prague’s DAMU drama school who subsequently served as director of a number of theatres in the city and worked as a presenter on the station Radiožurnál. Why was he determined to enter such uncertain waters?
What was your concept when you set up the site? And if you compare it with the form Opera Plus has today, was it overly modest or, on the contrary, overly ambitious?
A website about opera, so-called classical music and also dance, Opera Plus arose years ago – to exaggerate slightly – as a mere caprice, an attempt to relax from everyday concerns, as a spiritual purification after years spent at the radio microphone and in the company of politicians. Opera Plus’s ambitions at the time of its foundation were by no means precisely established. However, interest in the site started to grow very quickly, both among “mere” fans and among artists themselves. So the site’s form and its journalistic activities soon “swelled up” nicely, and it’s been like that to this day.
How broad is your circle of contributors?
The number of writers is today approaching 200. Understandably, the number of colleagues with an editing background also needs to expand.
In the autumn you organised the first benefit gala concert in support of the Opera Plus website, while you also announced your first Annual Awards for best soloists. Will more of them follow?
The Opera Plus Annual Awards for the field of opera, bestowed on the basis of voting by our readers, met with a great response and we will definitely continue with them. And we’ll also be looking at musicians and dancers… Our first benefit concert a year ago got a more favourable reception than expected, with queries as to “when will the next one be?” following even that evening. Yes, our benefit concert will take place again this year, again in the autumn. Honestly, even if we didn’t want to, we most likely won’t avoid holding it for existential reasons.
To you, how important and welcome are reader feedback?
Very important! I frequently feel persistently intrusive when I ask people around me about this or that about our site. And readers comments on individual articles? I get them directly on my mobile, without which I never take a step.
2014 will also bring innovation, with you and the renowned music magazine Harmonie having announced your “engagement”. Your media outlets have to date been competitors to a degree – what led you to this unique partnership?
I really like competition and I’m grateful for it. However, we’ve been led to work together mainly because, in my view, the alliance of a website and a printed monthly can only profit not only both editorial teams but above all our readers. The independence of both titles and their current scope will remain preserved, though articles from the printed Harmonie will be available on Opera Plus in electronic form after a certain interval. You’re invited.
