Volksopera is a celebration of Ondiep, but what will be left when the cameras are gone?

Barely five months between first audition and first performance. That was all the time the makers and local residents had for the Volksopera Ondiep, which experienced the first of two performances on Friday 23 May. It was a warm May evening, touching at times, sometimes dreadful, but fun anyway: classics by Verdi (most of them), Bizet, Puccini and Offenbach, set to Dutch text and sung by complete amateurs. Accompanied, for once, by the Groot Omroepkoor.

[Tweet "Real discoveries in folk opera Ondiep "]

The Ondiep amateurs had been polished and coached over a few months to cope with the classical repertoire, despite the heavy shag, black coffee and sherry with which they filled the working-class neighbourhood, heard the voices. Some turned out to cope quite nicely, and, as the makers had also hoped: there are at least two wonderful surprises among them: Maike Flick and Theo Geurtsen. Flick is a passionate talent, and Geurtsen is one of those folksy heroic tenors in the tradition of Willy Alberti. Hopefully we will hear more from him.

[Tweet "Plenty of attention for raw talent"]

But that opera itself is only half the story. So grand, with the free cooperation of so many large, but above all countless small companies, you only get that done if TV joins in. And that TV is joining in, because on 24 and 31 May, and on 7 June, this opera will be the subject of a television series, with none other than Tania Kross. Thanks to Kross, the Shallow People also appeared on Pauw and Witteman, thanks to Kross the ratings are guaranteed, and that is good.

[Tweet "But what happens when the cameras are gone from Ondiep?"]

The purpose of the Volksopera Foundation is noble. In an instant cooking pot, they gather talent, unite local residents, governments and businesses to get a once-in-a-lifetime great thing done. For four months, the Volksopera is the talk of the day among the participants, and there are so many of them, that it certainly keeps the neighbourhood involved. The opera is alive and well. The creators and coaches tap into talents. And they take those talents a long way. But then? What's it like after the summer, when the cameras are gone?

[Tweet "Where have the examples gone for the singing talents from Ondiep?"]

Ondiep is proud of DOS, national football champions from 1958. Ondiep is also proud of Wesley Sneijder, the football talent who was able to become a world star thanks to a good embedding of clubs in the neighbourhood. How nice would it not be if that boy who sang in the supporting act had not only Jan Smit as an audible example, but also Theo Geurtsen, and Pavarotti?

The municipality of Utrecht, generous sponsor of the Volksopera Ondiep, largely cut the music school. So chances are the freshly discovered music talents will not get a world chance like their footballing neighbours.

[Tweet "Municipality, business: Set up a learning orchestra for Utrecht now!"]

Perhaps we should also look to Venezuela in Latin America for that. There the youth is blessed with the learning orchestras of Gustavo Dudamel: music education for every child. I so begrudge that to those Ondiepers, my former neighbours.