Talking with Singers: David Cangelosi

Interview

American tenor David Cangelosi has worked with, well, everyone. We're talking Conlon, Ozawa, Boulez, Zeffirelli, and Plácido himself, and he made his Met debut singing Wagner with James Levine. David has even graced the stage of the Four Seasons Centre here in Toronto, appearing most recently as Spoletta (Tosca, 2012) and Dr. Blind (Die Fledermaus, 2012).

Three Big Things We Can All Learn From Singers

Editorial

You know, after sitting at the piano through many, _many_ voice lessons, I've never felt an urge to attempt to do what singers do. It's too difficult; and too many people have an opinion on how to do the difficult thing, and I honestly don't know how professional singers do it.

On the ego

Op-ed

I want people to like me.  I got into singing because I want people to like me. Yup. Of course, I didn’t think of it like that at the time; wanting people to like you is not necessarily an attractive quality.  Later, when I really thought about what it means to be a performer, I decided that I didn’t actually want it to be about me.

Wanna Write for Schmopera?

Editorial

We want to keep a two-way conversation with the people making opera happen today, and that means hearing from more voices. If you're eager to write, and have your apostrophes in order, we want to hear from you.

Hercules? Yes please!

Editorial

You know you're writing about opera in North America when you start to drool over a show that doesn't open until April 5th. But hey, I like hype. I'm talking about the COC's production of Handel's Hercules, directed by the infamous Peter Sellars. I just can't imagine what won't be to love.

In review: Opéra de Montréal's Atelier Lyrique joins the COC Ensemble Studio

Review

Each year the COC Ensemble and the Atelier lyrique de L'Opéra de Montréal send several of their respective artists on a week-long exchange. The artists travel to Toronto or to Montréal to work with teachers, coaches and dramaturges at the opposite company, and give local concerts highlighting the visiting singers and pianists.

Schmopera makes it to the big leagues

Editorial

Great news! I'll be making an appearance on behalf of Schmopera on the Big COC Podcast! With host Gianmarco Segato, I'll be joined by maestro Stephen Lord, who's in town conducting A Masked Ball at the Canadian Opera Company, and by Paula Citron, arts journalist, critic and broadcaster, and a past guest of the podcast.

Generally Awesome Mezzo Joyce DiDonato Saves My Writer's Block

Editorial

My hunt for blog-worthy tidbits had begun, and just as I felt the beginnings of a good old writer's block, I found myself on Joyce DiDonato's blog. That lady is just great. I'm not sure if everyone will remember this, but I spotted that letter to the editor that Joyce wrote for a publication by online magazine Opera21.

Opera Memes: A deconstruction

Humour

I feel like deconstructing today. I was going for lighter fare on a Sunday, which usually means heading over to the land of the opera nerds on Tumblr.

It's Valentines Day! Now what?

Humour

I thought about making a flow chart for Valentine's Day. It was going to be sort of like If-You're-Single-Do-This and If-You're-Attached-Do-This. But the answer to both is the same, making this a very simplistic flow chart indeed.