Adele & knowing your audience

Editorial

It must be a strange thing to know that you're an artist who's in demand enough to be on a realistic list of artists who may sing at an event like the Superbowl, but that you're not the kind of artist to give a good show in that context. Artists of all calibres, and particularly opera singers, get put in plenty of little situations where the idea of the gig is better than the reality.

In review: The Threepenny Opera

Review

Singing curse words and unromantic sex are still relatively rare on the opera stage, even if the stories themselves are full of the same amount of emotional extremes. Whether or not you're the type to point at "gratuity" or "shock value," what Norris' production achieves is a totally organic theatre experience. At times the whole thing feels like meta-theatre, and other times the action holds you rapt.

New roles: Janaka Welihinda of MYOpera

Interview

"I'm very passionate about mentoring and coaching young people; helping them grow and trying to get them to reach their full potential. I feel like it's a way to pay forward all the time my mentors have generously invested in me. I’m really looking forward to watching and supporting the artists this year throughout the process. From the auditions, to their first sing through, to their final performances and beyond, I'll feel honoured to share each step of their journey."

The Opera Olympics: it's time

Humour

But in competition, singers are judged on the big picture that comes out of countless achievements in vocal technique, foreign language skills, dramatic training and general charisma (can that be taught?). So, what if, like the Olympics, competitions were broken down into these smaller parts? Like gymnasts or track-and-field stars?

4 ways to test your memory

How-to

One of the most common pitfalls of singers in the memorizing process is to combine the words and music too soon. It's rare for a singer to have a memory lapse with the music itself (weird rhythmic entries excepted); in most cases, a singer's mind goes blank when they can't remember the upcoming words - even more so, when the text is in a non-native language.

Michael Fabiano: Classical music deserves better

Op-ed

A recent article in The Atlantic titled "The Tragedy of iTunes and Classical Music" sheds a light on just how problematic iTunes and other major digital libraries are for storing and categorizing classical music. What exactly is the problem? Professional musicians, particularly classical ones, need quick and easy access to multiple recordings and iTunes just doesn’t cut it.

Energy boost: 5 perky patter songs

Humour

Equal in hilarity to the image of a monotone group of Catholics speeding through holy texts out of sheer rote/boredom are all the "patter songs" that steal the show in opera and music theatre. Here are some of our favourites:

Cool concerts: MELD

News

With multiple cameras placed around Royal Albert Hall, The Space has captured a concert experience where "the end result places the audience at the heart of the experience, giving a vivid sense of the movements and interactions of the musicians and singers with the space."

The brief history of made-for-TV opera

Editorial

Do television networks, publicly funded or otherwise, have a responsibility to foster underdog-like forms of art by keeping them visible to the public? Are commercial networks like NBC or CBS or HBO free from the responsibility of exposing viewers to what they may enjoy - may learn from, even - and not just whats been statistically proven to get high ratings?

Nude musicians: less hot than it sounds

Humour

Judge if you must, but the whole image of a naked cellist playing a wedding gig had us thinking about the realities of nude music-making. Upon further consideration, the idea may be better in fantasy than in reality.