These Opera Shorts tell the entire story in under a minute

18 October 2017, 07:34 | Updated: 27 October 2017, 15:42

Barber, Boheme and Carmen, all told super-quickly in these gorgeous short animations.

To mark the new opera season, Classic FM has partnered with ENO in a bid to make this genre of classical music accessible to everyone. It follows research commissioned by Classic FM which reveals that most people think opera is expensive and intimidating. 

Classic FM has modernised three of the best-known operas, Carmen, La bohème and The Barber of Seville, creating three short animated films, narrated by Johnny Vaughan. The 30-second ‘opera shorts’ are designed to break down some of the perceived barriers to this classical form, making the storylines more accessible to a contemporary audience.

Watch The Barber of Seville as an ‘opera short’...

The research revealed the following statistics:

• Over half (53%) of Brits who find opera intimidating think it’s more daunting than taking a driving test
• Nearly three-quarters (71%) of Brits have never been to the opera
• Nearly one in three (29%) people who haven’t been to the opera would love the opportunity to go
• One in three (34%) people think going to the opera is too expensive
• A quarter (26%) of under 34-year olds see opera as too upper class for them
• One in five (18%) people are put off by watching a performance in a foreign language
• One in eight (15%) are discouraged by perceived opera etiquette such as when to clap and go to the loo
• One in 10 (10%) think that opera is too intellectual for them

Narrator Johnny Vaughan said: “There are some fantastic operatic storylines which have more drama, romance and intrigue than a whole hour of Brexit negotiations. Alright I'm exaggerating a bit, but it’s important to cut through the stereotypes that surround classical music and opera and give people the chance to enjoy it, which is why the ‘opera shorts’ trilogy is such a great idea.”

Watch Carmen and La bohème