Opera make-up

SIR – The American soprano Angel Blue has left her role in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Arena di Verona in protest at the use of black make-up for Anna Netrebko’s performance as Aida (report, July 18). It is not clear if she objects to the casting of a white singer per se to play an Ethiopian princess, or to the use of black make-up to lend artistic verisimilitude to the portrayal.

If the former, this is hypocritical, as Ms Blue was to play a white character. If the latter, we are led down a slippery path. What other forms of make-up or prosthetic become unacceptable? Is it “downright offensive”, as Ms Blue has it, to people who are obese to use padding in a portrayal of Verdi’s Falstaff, or to people who are elderly to use make-up to age a performer?

The most relevant fact is not that Ms Blue is black or that Ms Netrebko is white, but that Ms Blue is American. These issues carry particular sensitivity in America, which is being ravaged by identity wars and farreaching reverberations from its civil war of the 19th century. Americans should not impose their angst-ridden psychodramas on the rest of the world.

Michael Norris

Norfolk