What #OscarsSoWhite can learn from opera

Op-ed

Perhaps opera is making a mess of this whole thing by keeping racist shows like Madama Butterfly on stages, or even sexist shows like The Marriage of Figaro alive and well. And yes, film is different than opera; a film doesn't go through different productions, doesn't get re-made over and over again with new casts of characters. But I think there's light in our madness, because it means we've paid attention to the stories themselves, rather than the people charged with telling them.

A funny thing happened on the way to the opera

Op-ed

When the average, non-opera-obsessed North American attends an opera, they come away with the tale that they've seen La bohème or Aïda, and that's the end of it. They're not likely to tell their fellow, non-opera-obsessed friends that they saw "Zeffirelli's Bohème" or "Tim Albery's Aïda". There's nothing maliciously ignorant about any of this. It's just not how North Americans generally understand the process of putting an opera onstage.

Michael Mori on The Devil Inside

Interview

The Devil Inside tells the story of a bottle, inside which is everything you could ever want, yet which can only be sold for less than the price you paid for it. In a Faust-like version of "hot potato", the person who dies while in possession of the bottle has their soul shipped straight to hell. The compelling story by Stuart MacRae and Louise Welsh is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Bottle Imp, and it had it world premiere in January at Scottish Opera.

Paul Appleby: telling stories at Wigmore Hall

Interview

"Most of all I am looking forward to the acoustic. I have never been to the hall but I haven’t had a conversation with a singer who has sung there who doesn’t mention how perfect a room for singing it is. But as I think about it, more importantly than the loveliness of the space I am looking forward to participating in the community of Wigmore."

London Calling

Editorial

Well, readers, after much anticipation and a slight delay, Schmopera has made it to London. It's an amazing thing to be in a city with not only a myriad of opera companies large and small, but great pickings of arts and cultural centres offering up a buffet of musical options.

Don't miss: In Conversation with MYOpera

News

I'm really excited to be chatting with MYOpera's Artistic Director Kate Applin, Music Director Natasha Fransblow, Stage Director Anna Theodosakis and tenor Daevyd Pepper, all of whom are involved with their exciting upcoming production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia.

Gems: is your gender in sonata form?

Humour

Tumblr user socialjusticeweg posted some fun ways of being the most unique-est, quirktastic-est, gender-mysterious-est person at school, with a bunch of new gender identification labels, all falling under the umbrella of "Musigender" (defined as "A gender that is closely related to musicianship or music theory").

Singable text: when composers make it tricky

Humour

One of the biggest signs of that a composer has written well for the voice is when he or she sets the text in an organic way. In a broad sense, this means finding a rhythm and melody that works with the text, allowing it to be expressed the way the composer wants. In the same way that Verdi seemed to naturally fuse his music with the librettos he set, there are just as many examples of text setting that seems unnatural.

Arianna Zukerman: "You've got to live your truth."

Interview

"Not having balance is destructive and at the end of the day, as much as I love singing and constantly working to hone my craft and improve and present excellence, I'm not getting a hug from a perfectly turned phrase at the end of the day. If I can't be present as a mom, wife, friend, then I'm not going to be the singer I want to be either. Also, I have learned truly not to sweat the small stuff."

Hilarious: Darth Vader's theme in a major key

Humour

When we were still in university, my classmates and I would nerd out on playing things like "Deh vieni, non tardar" in F minor, or "Mein Herr, Marquis" in G minor, and it was hilarious to us for reasons I can't quite articulate. This reminds me of those times.