Talking with singers: George Gagnidze

Interview

"The tendency nowadays is for lyrical voices to take on dramatic roles, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss when they should sing Mozart. Just a few days ago a young baritone sang for me and asked me for my advice. A beautiful voice, but he was very young. He sang Amonasro for me and told me his wish is to sing Wagner. I suggested he should study the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Papageno for now. Then the voice will develop..."

In defense of the "day" job

Op-ed

But for real...for some reason, I have found that the "day job" has a negative connotation within the performing arts/musician community. As if accepting the day job is a form of "giving up," a "distraction." That because I am focusing my attentions on this alternative to support myself, (and you know… feed myself,) that somehow I have lost focus and am not giving the dream my all, that I am in a sense... throwing in the towel, or "not working hard enough."

Introducing...the Schmug!

News

If you like to drink a lot of Faching coffee, or if you're a Faching huge tea guru, the Schmug helps you caffeinate your way to Faching perfection. We all secretly want to be the Queen of the Night, so if you're a bass who wants to drink himself all the way up to those high Fs, you'll hear no judgement from us.

Aria guides: O wie ängstlich, o wie feurig!

How-To

Amid captured loved ones and Turkish harems, there's a tenor in love. Belmonte is off to resuce his abducted fiancée, Konstanze, but not without telling us how she makes his heart beat faster. For any tenor, this aria is a mountain of work; there's tricky coloratura, lines which hover through the passaggio, and making it to the end takes planning and stamina.

Don't miss: Enchanting China

News

"Not unlike Canada, China is an immense country with many peoples and cultures scattered across its vastness," explains Music Director Zhang Gaoxiang by translator. "In Enchanting China, we share the voices of these many places and introduce Canadians to Chinese music’s cultural richness. We hope Toronto will be intrigued to experience our country’s version of the orchestra – and be spellbound by the music that it weaves."

Why 'mezza voce' and budgets really don't matter

Op-ed

There are a million ways to communicate an awesome idea. I sing opera. Maybe you paint on canvas, or channel your soul through the words of Shakespeare. There are also a million ways to make peace with money. I use financial planning and teach it to others, but that doesn't mean it's the right tool for you.

Tenors' redemption at an historic Grey Cup in Toronto

Op-ed

“I don’t think we can see ourselves performing with Remigio again,” fellow Tenor Fraser Walters said in July of this year. Rightly so. The backlash received by the quartet immediately after Pereira's "going rogue" prompted the decision back in the summer, and no amount of back-pedalling by Pereira was able to save his spot in the roster - imagine. Not even this non-apology released on Soundcloud was enough to save him.

Aria guides: Ach, ich fühl's

How-To

It's a deceptively simple aria, and the empty accompaniment, a singer can easily feel as though they're walking on eggshells. Along with help from your teachers and coaches, we can offer a few tips for keeping things simple, and creating the illusion of superhuman breath control.

A diction lesson: French Canadian swearing

Op-ed

Words like tabarnak, câlisse, criss, simonaque, ciboire, calvaire, viarge and esti are nouns, so they generally require a "de" after them when they are used to describe something. A few of them were used as adjectives on a few occasions, which sounds off to a native speaker. For example, you can't say "that tabarnak chair". A connector word is missing: "that tabarnak de chair", "cette tabarnak de chaise". It's like saying "that f*ck chair", it just doesn't work, it has to be "f*cking" for it to make grammatical sense.

Aria guides: "Schweig! damit dich Niemand warnt"

Editorial

Der Freischütz is an action-packed story about girls, guns, and selling one's soul to the devil. Caspar is a man who owes his soul to the devil, and when he sings "Schweig! damit dich Niemand warnt," he plans to substitute Max's soul instead of his own. Caspar's aria is a schizophrenic rambling of a desperate man, and Weber's score is packed with traps that cost you breath and beauty of sound, and it's an aria that takes patience and time with your teachers and coaches.