OPERA: FOR THE ORDINARY: Despite popular misconceptions and its aristocratic origins, for part of its history opera was inextricably linked with popular culture - no more so than in the 1920s.

OPERA; POPULAR culture; MOTION pictures; OPERA companies; 20TH century opera; HISTORY; TWENTIETH century; MOTION picture history

The article discusses the history of opera in Great Britain in the 1920s. Topics include the relationship between opera and popular culture, the challenging circumstances encounterd by operatic culture in the country including financial difficulties, particularly the 1916 introduction of the Entertainments Tax, which forced many of the touring companies to disband, and the relationship between opera and early film.