Taylor Swift, songwriter, popstar and world-conquering celebrity, comes from an opera lineage. Her grandmother Marjorie Finlay was a singer whose repertoire covered songs from opera as well as popular songs. Her soprano voice can be heard singing what sounds like ‘Ore dolci e divine’ from La rondine in the background of Swift’s 2020 musical memorial to her, Marjorie. The connection is apt, as Swift’s delicate attention to detail and intimate portrayals of love and loss make her pop music’s equivalent to Puccini. Nothing could be more Swiftian than Mimì’s plea to Rodolfo halfway through ‘Mi chiamano Mimì’: ‘I love all things that have gentle sweet smells, that speak of love, of spring, of dreams and fanciful things, those things that have poetic names… Do you understand me?’ Both Swift and Puccini are known for writing the genre-defining firecrackers that even people with no interest in opera or dance-pop might know: Swift has written many Nessun dormas, from the elegiac All Too Well to dancefloor favourite Shake It Off, and indeed she has an entire album, Midnights, dedicated to the concept of ‘never sleeping’.

This combination of songwriting ability, storytelling prowess, and an uncanny knack for getting to the heart of human nature makes Swift a natural match for writing opera. Over time, she has explored lengthier songs, and interconnected song cycles. All Too Well is 10 minutes long, breaking the convention of three-and-a-half-minute pop song and taking the listener on a journey of emotional change worthy of Verdi. Swift is also renowned for speaking to the female experience; male composers have spoken women’s lives into words with powerful eloquence, from Violetta to Mimì. But while opera has produced immortal female characters, it is a different story behind the scenes. We cannot rely on the empathy of male composers, librettists and directors to represent women. When women write operas, they do unexpected things: Sivan Eldar’s 2022 opera Like Flesh expressed the anxiety of living in the 21st century through the story of a woman who wanted to turn into a tree. Swift, a rare liberated creative talent within pop, who answers to no Svengali, has written character-driven songs about everyone from American oil magnates to con artists.

If Swift decided to turn her hand to a libretto, her vision would be a welcome one for expanding opera’s appeal. She has a history of directing interest in some unexpected directions: her 2020 album folklore generated a lot of media requests to a surprised American Folklore Society. Fans of Taylor Swift expect to follow her to any new endeavour, and the popularity of folklore, a downbeat alternative rock album, shows the flexibility of her talent, Now, to we opera heads, pop and rock are basically the same thing, and no one is suggesting that Swift withdraw from public life to attend a conservatoire. But it would be fascinating to see what she could bring to opera with her storytelling prowess, emotional vulnerability and lyrical turn of phrase.

As well as these creative talents, Swift is famously attuned to the zeitgeist. New operas such as Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel (composer Iain Bell, librettist Emma Jenkins)which premiered at English National Opera in 2019, drew in new audiences with an interest in true crime and women’s history. Overhearing the conversations sparked by the opera’s themes made me believe that subject matter is one of the most important factors in connecting with audiences. What stories would Swift choose to tell if she was given an opera house stage, the world’s finest singers, and three hours to play with?

It seems only a matter of time until Swift’s music is turned into a Broadway musical: her songs were suspiciously absent from her frequent collaborator Max Martin’s jukebox musical & Juliet, which makes you think she is holding them back to tell her own story onstage. With all the love and respect in the world for the musical theatre format, I want to make the case for opera instead. She is a multi-platform genius who has shown she is willing to take commercial risks (such as folklore) to explore her own creativity. She smashes the highbrow/lowbrow dichotomy to pieces: you are now as likely to learn about Swift’s work in an English literature degree as on TikTok. She is a genius audience-builder and the world of opera may be one of the few places in culture she hasn’t made an impact (she is beginning her film directing career and has already become a self-made billionaire). What a conquest it would be, and what a glittering opening night.

Swift is currently in the process of cementing her legacy by revisiting her whole catalogue on the Eras Tour. Why not let the long-established culture and passionate fans of opera do some of the work for you, Taylor? I would also pay anything for Taylor Swift opera merchandise, especially if she appeared in her own work. Although her voice is hardly coloratura, she has proved she can navigate the highs and lows of an operatic runtime: her show on the current Eras Tour is up to three-and-three-quarter- hours long, requiring an Isolde-level of stamina. Consider it, Taylor. Oh, and can I recommend a show called La bohème? I think you would love it. 

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Opera Now. Join our community of opera lovers – subscribe to Opera Now today