Spotlight on: Danielle Buonaiuto

Interview

"A successful performance is happening when I can make some eye contact, elicit laughter or other commentary, feel energy coming back from the audience - in short, when everyone in the room is engaged in the moment with me. After such a concert, I'll often have audience members want to connect with me directly to talk with me about the experience."

In review: Hamlet at Glyndebourne

Review

Allan Clayton was sensational in the title role. From the first scene we get a sense that he is a black sheep to the rest of the royal family, and in the two acts of the opera he is in a constant state of unhinge - sometimes he is laughing and enjoying life with Horatio, but one comment from Gertrude can set him off into a frenzy. Clayton played Hamlet on the brink of a breakdown without sacrificing the beauty in his vocal production.

Spotlight on: Jennifer Davis

Interview

"Honestly, I think that most of my learning has taken place in a rehearsal room. It's there that you get to explore yourself and you also gain so much from your colleagues; their input cannot be emphasised enough. The conversations you have in those spaces are where a lot of my own self-discovery and development have taken place."

Talking with composers: Alexina Louie

Interview

"Inspiration doesn't just suddenly strike. Most often, I sit at the piano and improvise until I find a musical idea that is worth keeping. I will sketch it out and work with it. Sometimes when I am stuck on a passage unable to come up with a musical solution, I think about it when I am not at the piano. Sometimes I work out possibilities in my head and get back to the piano to realize them. I have pages and pages of drafts, most of which I don't use, but working out the ideas gets me to a new place."

Talking with composers: Juliana Hall

Interview

"Despite its difficulties, there is nothing I can imagine I would rather be doing with my life than composing art songs...it is my world, and it is where I belong."

Don't miss: Luminato's Bearing

News

"Bearing is the first production in which I am examining what Indian Residential School means - to myself, to this company, and more importantly to this nation. This is not something that happened to a few people a long time ago; what happened then echoes and reverberates through all our lives. That's what Bearing means - how do we carry this history? How do we come to terms with it?"

Josephine and The Artizans' HipHopera: Act II

Review

Above it all, Josephine's voice soars. Hardcore opera fans may have a tough time with JATA's almost instrumental use of the voice - its function melodic, a unique ingredient in their music's texture - yet it's a testament to Josephine's savvy straddling of classically-inspired songwriting and producing work that has commercial appeal.

In review: Miss Hope Springs at Wigmore Hall

Review

It's difficult to come up with any artists who have recently graced Wigmore Hall who have that same power - whose mere entrance can rile up a crowd, who doesn't even have to play a note to have us on the edge of our seats. This is the kind of magical ability that classical performers should be trying to discover.

The practice tip you don't want to hear

Editorial

That's where slowness comes in. It's the great magnifying glass, the exposer of weak spots. It's in slow practice that you find the crux of the problem, the ignored detail, the missing piece that makes the difference between a section of music that's hit-and-miss, and one that's consistent like a Swiss watch.

In review: The Seven Deadly Sins at TSO

Review

Ivany seems to take a different tack with their relationship. It almost seems this time around as though Anna I (the singer) is actually part of Anna II's (the dancer) demise. She seems to be the one encouraging her sister to indulge in the seven sins in order to make their money. #CouPIMPgh.