Translations:Bij De Munt is online opera al jaren een nieuwe werkelijkheid/4/en

Fortunately, La Monnaie had nothing to complain about in terms of dwindling audiences, but its regular crowd wasn’t exactly very young. ‘Opera has a rather traditional character. I myself first went to the opera on my 11th birthday,’ explains Nicolaï. ‘Sitting on a stone bench in the Verona Arena, I saw La Gioconda by Ponchielli – and was immediately enchanted. But if you haven’t grown up with opera, you don’t usually buy opera tickets even in your 30s and 40s.’