Pass the baton
An Opera Odyssey

An Opera Odyssey

by | Last updated Dec 19, 2019 | Published on Jul 25, 2019 | Articles, Education, Opera

“An Opera Odyssey is a truly gargantuan production undertaking by Elbrus TV. Being filmed across 38 countries, it will truly be the most substantial, significant, and meaningful visual history of opera ever to be produced. Viewers will see how the communicative...
Djamileh – origins and synopsis

Djamileh – origins and synopsis

by | Last updated Sep 11, 2019 | Published on Dec 21, 2015 | Articles, Opera

Djamileh or Bizet’s lost slave   Here I am, yet again, deeming with the intricacies of a period of time I particularly love: Paris in the second half of the 19th century. This era has always fascinated me: it’s the time of Rodin and Camille Claudel, of...
The art of training and developing the voice

The art of training and developing the voice

by | Last updated May 22, 2019 | Published on Nov 20, 2015 | Articles, Education, Opera

James McCray was one of the greatest dramatic tenors of all times. After a career which saw him singing everywhere in the world, with conductors such as James Levine and Zubin Metha and colleagues such as Eileen Farrel and Jessye Norman, he became a highly respected...
Does size matter?

Does size matter?

by | Last updated Dec 19, 2019 | Published on Oct 13, 2015 | Articles, Opera

Who says opera should only be staged and performed by big opera houses? When it comes to small opera companies there is a certain preconception – coming from a pure comparison of budgets – in looking at them as second rate producers: what the Met or La...
Diverging rails

Diverging rails

by | Last updated May 4, 2019 | Published on Jul 22, 2015 | Articles, Opera

A recent interview to Franz Welser-Möst got me thinking about Karl Böhm. Welser-Möst set a new rule for himself when it comes to opera: “I reached a point where I will only work with a director if he lets me explain the music to him. What he does then, that’s his...
The rape of Opera

The rape of Opera

by | Last updated Oct 2, 2016 | Published on Jul 7, 2015 | Articles, Opera

The recent production of Guillame Tell at ROH marked a threshold: the literalisation of a woman’s rape on stage. We all know that opera is a violent artform: Gilda gets stabbed, Tosca kills Scarpia who has Mario tortured and killed and then in turn she kills herself...

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