Internationalization practices applied to the management of opera houses: empirical evidences from Italy and China

The growing importance of international exchanges in arts and culture is considered a response to globalization, a debated notion which has been the subject of multiple theories and definitions. The research, first of all, aims to define internationalization practices in the arts and to analyze which are the reasons, the drivers, the objectives and the interests behind these practices using the representative context of opera houses. Their suitability as empirical case lies in their mixed artistic product, encroaching on music and performing arts, which are even more challenging art sectors among others. Furthermore, their representativeness is emphasized by the new possibilities offered by the geographical expansion of opera production and distribution. After the creation of a possible model for the analysis of processes of internationalization in the artistic and in the production sector, the research will be conducted in two complementary directions, one focused on the analysis of internationalization practices and possible strategies and the other on the process of creation of an international reputation through competencies exchanges. In order to understand how theatre’s international activities can be classified, which are the drivers guiding them, and if we can refer to strategies put in action by theatres on the precise sector of internationalization, evidences from four Italian representative opera houses will be analyzed, namely Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Teatro dell’Opera di Firenze, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Teatro Regio di Torino. Concerning the second part, the Chinese opera market will be then analyzed with a study on the process of reputation construction at the international level of the Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts, a theatre located in a non Western operatic tradition but performing Western opera for the majority. Through the analysis of opera titles and the evolution of cast choices, the progressive internationalization of production activities will be stated. The international reputation construction process, will be then investigated through the testimony of artists involved in the production of Norma at NCPA in 2014. This mixed approach makes it possible to understand if opera houses in different environments plan their choices according to specific strategies or depending on the context, and if a traditional opera country and a new market interested in opera, can match their purposes in a mutual collaboration perspective. The results suggest that possible strategies addressing internationalization in Italian opera houses exist only in few cases, but they are not consciously carried on by managers. On the other hand, the exploration of the Chinese market demonstrates the presence of a growing industry with its peculiarities. In particular the field work at NCPA shows that, within the process of creating an international reputation on Western opera, the “Italian way” of setting up opera is an attractive factor. These considerations open up a multitude of possibilities not only for Italian theaters but also for employees, managers and experts within the whole opera sector.