A trip to the Royal Opera House

This evening I went to see Wagner’s Parsifal at the Royal Opera House in London. Parsifal is approximately five hours long. Wagner’s music, like Richard Strauss’, is sweeping, haunting and majestic, but he was rather preoccupied with superstition and legend and this opera features a good deal of talk about “holy spears”, “holy grails” and the like. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable fantasy.

The Royal Opera House (if you haven’t been) is a beautiful building with, of course, excellent acoustics, and it features several sumptuous dining areas. Next time I’ll reserve a table.

The thing that shocked me about the evening, however, was the appearance of many of the paying public. There were many ruddy-faced well-fed men whom one suspected might be at the opera more because it was “the thing to do” rather than because of a deep love of classical music and opera in particular, but also many people who had obviously made no effort whatsoever over their appearance.

I had got a little dressed up. I may not have looked great (my best suit is ivory, and I deemed black more suitable for the event) but I made an effort. Many other people, however, wore jeans, caps, trainers, whatever. Nothing wrong with those, in their place, but where is the decorum in society these days? Once was the day that everybody would dress smartly in evening wear to an opera – it was an occasion.

I considered this state of affairs to be another indicator of the general decline of standards in society. The Royal Opera House should introduce a dress code. I found myself wondering: if a £360 trip there is not enough to make people consider dressing up a little and taking a pride in their appearance, what exactly is?