Listening to pop music: an opera critics's running playlist

Editorial

The cool thing about being an over-educated musician listening to pop music while on a runner's high is that you can do what I call varsity-level listening. It just means that compared to how the average person who didn't do two degrees in Western classical music, you're listening to music with more tools in your ears.

A thoroughly divided opera world, great.

Op-Ed

Today, the opera world seems firmly divided in two: those who are with Angel Blue, and those who are with Anna Netrebko. These two sopranos have become the current faces of the current issue in the opera industry, and I've already started making gross generalizations about people who choose one side or the other.

Essay: Tuning In to Developing Your Craft

How-To

From "The Things They Didn't Teach You At Conservatoire"

Essay: Tuning In to Getting Ahead

How-To

From "The Things They Didn't Teach You At Conservatoire"

Essay: Tuning In to Looking After Yourself

How-To

From "The Things They Didn't Teach You At Conservatoire"

Essay: Tuning In to What Makes You Unique

How-To

From: The Things They Didn't Teach You At Conservatoire

The MET Orchestra reigns and Goerke sings Sieglinde

Review

The blazing orchestra doesn't so much compensate for the lack of the sword and tree but more accurately supplants the need for such paraphernalia.

A Torrent of Light: the future of opera

Review

Every part of the playing space could function as a projection screen. It was some of the most exciting tech I've ever seen in a show.

The Queen in Me: yaassss kweeeeeeen

Review

The Queen in Me at the Canadian Opera Company is the culmination of years of work by Kasahara and their creative team to create this monolith of a one-person show. A true one-person show -- not a recital, not a cabaret or salon, but a dramatically driven show that would need to be seen to be believed.

EDEN stuns and the astonishing Joyce DiDonato is out to save the world

Review

Joyce DiDonato has made a stunning recording. Since we've become accustomed to her perfect technique, rich characterizations and commitment to the message as well as the music, this is not unusual. But with Eden, her new recording on Erato, this masterful mezzo-soprano quite simply astonishes.