As the country begins to emerge from shutdowns, a desire to relieve pandemic tedium and to reembrace life as we once knew it may be enough to get fans out to ballparks or rock concert venues this summer. These fans can be secure in the knowledge that what they will be getting will provide the same thrills as the performances they enjoyed before their options were confined to a choice between Netflix and Amazon Prime. But what of the niche audiences that fill the seats at classical music performances?

The demographics of those who attend symphony concerts and operas skew much older than those for other genres, making them likely to be more cautious about crowding together as they once did. But in addition to the worries about whether the already dwindling market for classical music and opera will be even more limited in the future, there is the question of what exactly they are going to be confronted with when they do return. Unfortunately, Opera Philadelphia’s recent mashup of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca offered a discouraging reminder of the lasting effects of both the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. As one of the first post-COVID, live-audience opera performances in a major American venue, it was intended to be a celebration of the arts’ return, but what it provided instead was a disaster that raised questions about the future of the art form.