When singers call in sick

Editorial

A singer's best publicity is their work. Great singing begets more opportunities, and poor singing begets bad reputations. There are plenty of reasons not to sing while sick: it can do damage to your vocal folds, it can make you stay sicker for longer, and it means you lose a paycheque. But when a singer has to decide, to sing or not to sing, the decision often hinges on the performance they think they can give.

Don't miss: Radvanovsky in recital at Cadogan Hall

News

"There's an intensity and dramatic commitment with Sondra that's made her connect with audiences in a way few singers are able to do," says Rosenblatt, founder of the series, of Radvanovsky's place as a leading soprano in opera today. "The actual instrument itself is nothing short of a marvel – it's a huge voice but one that she's able to use with complete control so that she's also able to sing the most delicate of phrasing that touches whoever she's singing with."

In review: The Pirates of Penzance at ENO

Review

With the ENO Orchestra sounding the best yet we've heard them under Gareth Jones, this Pirates of Penzance has a ball with everything that's silly and absurd about the show. Broad, flat geometric shapes created imaginative, flexible sets; saturated blues and reds placed us properly in Britain, and flashes of green came with the young, fresh flock of Stanley girls, and a murky purple took the story into the nighttime hours.

Don't miss: rough for opera #15

News

Jonathan Higgins' Schutzwall is set in 1961 Berlin, one month after the wall was put up, overnight, with no warning. Catherine Kontz's A Certain Sense of Order draws on the life and work of Anne Sexton, the fascinating American poet who struggled with mental illness all her life, and whose shocking poems were considered "confessional". Benjamin Tassie's Hurricane Zoo is an operatic adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's First Visit with Mescalito, the Gonzo-journalism-style account of his first mescaline trip.

Shades of opera: how to tell your buffo from your bel canto

How-to

Verismo music is decidedly gorgeous, with long, sweeping lines and a thick orchestra. The musical style is a foundation for the film scores of today, and though the impression is powerful, the harmonic structure of many verismo scores is fairly simple; it adds to the audience accessibility, and makes for some beautiful tunes to hum as you leave the theatre.

In review: Adriana Lecouvreur at ROH

Review

In his role debut as Maurizio, Brian Jagde was a total standout performance. An athletic, strapping Count, Jagde had all the virile charisma that actor-types love. His sound was a throaty, grounded tenor with unreal beauty, and he wisely chose a handful of moments to show almost impossible volume. With Gheorghiu, Jagde created an honest relationship between Maurizio and Adriana. They had chemistry and respect for each other, reminiscent of Tosca and Cavaradossi.

Vera Causa Opera: "Opera for all."

Interview

"Accessible opera is opera which allows the viewer to have a direct connection with the work, and allows for performers that would otherwise not be able to partake in the production to be a significant part of it. The fact of the matter is there are things which hinder a direct connection to traditional opera. For us, we tailor our operas to suit the average person and in some ways take off the rose-coloured glasses."

Booing at the opera: why?

Editorial

Those who are brave enough to boo are also brave enough to make sure that everyone knows who exactly they're booing. Curtain calls can be a cruel set-up, the bowing artist well aware of when the crowd turns from admiration to disappointment. Seasoned artists have a thick skin, but it can't be a good feeling to stand in front of a crowd of people who are unhappy and who want you to know it.

Don't miss: Women Who Write

News

Sara Constant, flutist and writer for Wholenote leads a round-table dicussion with three Canadian women: Norma Beecroft, pioneer of electronic music composition, Juliet Palmer, composer and Artistic Director of Urbavessel, and Tara Kannangara, Juno-nominated jazz artist and composer. The conversation will "reveal the joys and triumphs of each composer as they find their voices in the Canadian music scene".

In review: Götterdämmerung at the COC

Review

Thursday night, I blew into the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts almost immediately after work - even planning all week I still just made the 5 minute call before the early curtain at 6pm. As is said before, this is my virgin Wagner (it was so hard not to write "Wirgin Wagner" just now) but I'm not unfamiliar with the Ring Cycle, and being the huge Tolkien junkie I am, I love me a good epic.