In review: Nashville Symphony's season opener

Review

Lyric soprano Nicole Cabell and the Symphony Chorus joined the orchestra and Ms. DeYoung for the last movement – a section that searches for its identity (it’s all of us!) and produces wall after wall of orchestral and vocal sound. Ms. Cabell’s solid technical performance and effective interpretation were sometimes eaten by the orchestras’ fortissimo, but her glittering high notes rang out clear and sturdy. Hers are what high notes are supposed to sound like.

Fans unite: Opera Box Score

Editorial

So, for those well-balanced fans of opera and sports, there's Opera Box Score, the podcast that asks, "what if opera – its performances, personnel and programming – could be demystified, discussed and promoted in such a way as to become as much a part of the public consciousness as sports?"

In review: Don Giovanni at ENO

Review

So, it was a real moment of excitement to settle into the first minutes of Richard Jones's new production at English National Opera. His is a production that ingeniously straddles the line between the symbolic and the real; the characters are at once archetypes - the virgin, the scorned, the doting boyfriend - and specific people.

Don't miss: "Feet" at the Horniman Museum

Interview

"It was this juxtaposition, and the indignity of an animal losing its feet for a reason we would now consider to be quite minor, which formed the basis of the idea. Our main character, the pigeon (sorry, rock dove) just wants to tell her story and get a bit of attention for once."

In review: Jamie Barton leaves you wanting more

Review

I know I often talk about the immense amount of amazingly talented singers, but I want to go on record and say it applies to all musicians - and last night was proof positive of that. That being said, this was Mahler, so the night belonged to the brass.

Rehearsing trauma: How working on an opera helped me heal

It is not enough to re-experience our own pain on stage; we must externalize it so the audience can join us through empathy.

Nick Fletcher: reps at the ROH

Interview

"It's taken me a long time to realise that as a rep you're not just a piano player meekly sitting in the corner, but instead a wide-ranging and versatile musician whose ideas, even if ultimately rejected, should still be part of the creative process that happens in the rehearsal room."

3 ways your English is showing

How-to

There are idioms in every language, and that's what we hear when someone speaks with a foreign accent. It's handy for singers to identify some of these habits and idioms that keep them from sounding comfortable in a non-native language. So, we've identified three big linguistic tells for North American English speakers, and how to keep them from foreign language mastery.

In review: Alek Shrader at Wigmore Hall

Review

There seemed to be two versions of Alek Shrader, one who was invested in singing well and communicating deeply, and another who was humble, perhaps a bit shy, and who relished the chance to move the spotlight onto Vignoles for the fun piano part in Rossini's tarantella.

Talking with singers: Craig Irvin

Interview

Perhaps not surprisingly, Irvin learned some big truths about his singing life from being an amateur comic. "If it was about the applause, I wouldn't have gotten up and done it again," he explains. "It was about the performance. That's what I'm drawn to most of all."