What’s next for opera and classical music: digital concerts and intergenerational war Continuing our series on the future of culture post-Covid, our classical critic looks at a new drive for localism amid the effects of Brexit 9 March 2021 • 5:00am 'Audiences will still want to see great artists in the flesh', such as Anna Netrebko, pictured in La forza del destino in the ROH in 2019 Credit: Robbie Jack/Corbis/Getty Classical music and opera in Britain have faced crises before – two world wars, plagues, government bans during the Cromwellian period – but never anything as bad as the effects of Covid-19. And yet, long before the pandemic struck, these ancient and inherently traditional artforms were already in difficulties.