Yes, children have a natural love for opera. I make that statement confidently because I’ve never seen it fail. When exposed to staged music dramas of appropriate lengths (two to three hours) with costumes, a modest amount of action, and an actual band or orchestra, children are easily won over. Almost assuredly.

The qualifier “almost” remains only because many children today are desensitized visually and aurally. Why? They live life under headphones, staring at screens that show endless stretches of mindless cartoons or high-action video games replete with flashing colors, loud noises, and constantly changing images. Those children, in my view, are already lost to us unless a radical change takes place in their upbringing.

A child raised with limited (or no) screen time, who leads a life based on exposure to our real world (playing outside, observing nature, exploring places in the neighborhood, observing and questioning things seen from a car), and who has developed a love of “story” from exposure to books, will be a shoe-in for becoming an opera fan.

I’ve watched children of all kinds, all ages, fall in love with opera. Sometimes it begins with productions directed to children (e.g. Hansel and Gretel or Magic Flute, although neither is actually a children’s opera). But children can take on all kinds of serious operatic fare and be fascinated.

When they can read the supertitles, children are capable of grasping even arcane twists and turns of a complex opera plot. Should they be too young to read, they still can follow the story, even if it’s in a foreign language. Minimal preparation will allow a child to anticipate the high points of a staged drama, such as a powerful chorus that concludes an act, a colorful dance sequence, or a special aria that is world-famous for its snappy rhythm, emotional intensity, or beautiful melody.

One of my favorite starting places for bringing kids to opera happens to be Rossini’s Cenerentola (Cinderella). Rossini’s The Barber of Seville may be better known, but its plot is more subtle, despite scenes of slapstick hilarity. Furthermore, children already know, and usually like, the Cinderella story.

Unless children are exposed to the concept of the archetypal fairy tale with its different expressions across world cultures, they will be expecting a plot shaped by a “fairy godmother” and full of magic. Neither aspect is present in Jacopo Ferretti’s text (libretto) which Rossini set to music and unveiled in 1817. Instead, the events in this Cenerentola are driven by human qualities that are either good and admirable, or ill-tempered and selfish.

Young ones may be surprised by the nuanced nature of the characters’ personalities, something largely veiled in fairy-tales. Rossini’s sunny melodies will delight them. The clever twists of events will engage them. Plus, they will enjoy experiencing something that only opera can do: simultaneous dialogue wherein two (duet), three (trio), four (quartet), or more characters speak (sing) at the same time, and yet the meaning of each line stays clear. Cenerentola boasts one of opera’s all-time great examples of this device: the sextet in Act Two wherein the main characters recognize one another and sing a web of confused, overlapping statements featuring highly exaggerated, comic rolling of their “r’s”.

Sadly, we cannot snap our fingers and make a production of Cenerentola appear at our local auditorium. Fortunately there are wonderful video versions available. I myself like a slightly older production (2004) staring Kathleen Kuhlmann that was filmed at the renown Glynebourne Festival Opera in England. Here we see a production devoid of special effects. Instead, it features traditional costumes, old-fashioned theatrical devices (such as having the singers move through an on-stage maze as they ponder their situations), and delightful singing by sympathetic performers.

Of course, if you can attend live performances of operas, that’s terrific. But try to seek local performances first: college music department usually stage one full operatic performance a year, with a second production of selected opera scenes. High schools tend to focus on presenting American operas (musicals) and these productions can be astoundingly good. If you buy tickets early, you can get inexpensive, close seats where the kids feel connected to the performance. (I like to say they need to feel the heat from the sweat on the musicians’ brows.)

Professional productions, on the other hand, are prohibitively expensive for most families, particularly those with many children. So often I hear laments from parents who had saved up to “do something special” and spent hundreds of dollars to attend an opera given by a major company, such as the Houston Opera, or Lyric Opera of Chicago. Of necessity, they took the seats they could afford, and thus found themselves in the back row, top balcony. Often the performance came after an arduous day of travel or sightseeing. Not surprisingly, most of the family members were dozing within thirty minutes.

When compared to the price people pay both for professional sporting events or rock concerts, the costs of attending an opera are relatively reasonable. But look locally first, use videos to teach the masterworks of our great operatic canon, and save the day you spend the “big bucks” for when the family members are all on-board as opera fans.

Meanwhile, a great compromise that I’ve written about exists likely right in your area: the Saturday afternoon live presentations of HD satellite broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD. Starting in 2006, this marvelous media-experiment has become a major arm of the Met’s outreach. Fans in the US and abroad can experience a world-class performance of selected matinees, “sitting” in what would be a several-hundred-dollar seat if an actual patron sat there. During the intermissions, viewers gain access to fascinating back-stage experiences, from exploring the stage machinery to visiting the costume shop to touring the orchestra pit. I’ve yet to take anyone to a Met Live in HD event who hasn’t loved it.

So, let’s go to the opera. Start where you can. Do it live or on video. Write and ask me for recommendations. But jump in and begin to allow the operatic masterworks of our Western heritage inspire you and your family.