Football or Opera?

 

 

 

There is, of course, no reason that one could not enjoy both, and such people do exist.  But the generality of one audience does not usually have same enthusiasm for the experience of the other.

     Both Opera and Football (the Association sort and NOT the American version) both have drama galore; there are strong narratives to both; emotion runs high – and you can go on makings lists of similarities and make yourself sound like a harassed PR person trying to justify the submission to some sort of funding agency emphasising how wide ranging the attraction of the activity is to all sectors of society.

     I am not here to state that one is intrinsically better than the other, though I obviously have my prejudices, and the last time I paid for a ticket for football was ten years before the black snows. 

     In fact I can actually remember the tickets that I have bought: there was a Wales versus Yugoslavia match in Ninian Park – the team and the location shows just how long ago that was; another time when I was backpacking in Scandinavia I bought a ticket for a first division Finnish football match in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki because I happened to be staying there as it doubled as a Youth Hostel – and if that was the First Division, then even to my untrained eye, I would hate to think what the lower leagues were like.  In more recent years (relatively) I bought a ticket for Catalonia versus China in the Camp Nou (before the reworking and rebuilding) Stadium – whereas with Opera, my tickets for the next season 2026-27, in the Liceu, have already been purchased.  So, if you follow the money, I come down very firmly on the Opera side of the equation.

      However, it is fairly easy to ignore Opera if you are not interested in it.  It is much more difficult to ignore football, considering that the Season for the game now appears to extend through 365 days a year, and its coverage on television, in the newspapers, and general advertising is omnipresent.  And I find it very difficult to ignore (as much as I want to) FIFA-Corrupt sickening experiences like the World Cup and the prostitution of FIFA to the whims of a corruptly indifferent American President.

     In our household the fortunes of Barça are of some import, and it is much easier to fall in line with the clear preference/prejudice and at least show the minimum of interest.  It also helps that Barça is, to put it mildly, a fairly successful club, so that one is supporting a usually winning team.  And supporting Barça also affords one the pleasure of having an Instant Enemy in the form of the much-hated Real Madrid.  As a person who knows little of football, I take my cues from the utterances of my partner and mouth, sometimes surprising, nuggets of ‘informed’ analysis about the game!  And however little I know about The Game, I now know more than I ever did before, and am therefore able to take more of an informed interest in watching the ball as it is kicked around the field.

     As with most things, apart from Conservatism and Jazz, the more you know, the greater your sympathy or at least interest and tolerance.

     For me, the more pressing debate is between Opera and Orchestral Concerts.  Again, following the money that I pay for tickets, you would have to say that my preference is for Opera as that is by far the more expensive pursuit of mine, but I know that if I had to make a decision about which mode to follow I would probably opt for the Orchestral Concerts.

     And one thing that Football and Orchestral Concerts have in common is that both last about 90 minutes – whereas things like Cricket and Opera can go on for what seems like for ever!