Kidon Choi
Tune into Cardiff 2015
InterviewMark your calendars! From June 14-21, you can watch the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition online at bbc.co.uk/cardiffsinger. There are four instalments each of the Song Prize and Main Prize categories; Song Prize Recital 1 is June 14 at 2:30pm, GMT (9:30am for Torontonians), and the Main Prize concerts begin June 15 at 7:30pm (2:30pm EST).
Giving up, caring too little, and other taboos
Op-edA couple of articles popped up this week that circle around the big issue of taboo in the arts. Allison Ford, in her "I Gave Up My Dream And I'd Do It Again," talks about her decision to walk away from pursuing a career in theatre, at the tender age of 20-something. Closer to opera is Kathryn McAdam's "Soprano on Sabbatical...What on earth does she mean?", where she reveals a beautifully personal story about her struggles with vocal health that finally trumped all.
Jerry Hadley, on style
InterviewOn the recommendation of a colleague, I found this gem of an interview with the late and great tenor Jerry Hadley. At just under half an hour, it's not a big time commitment to listen to the whole thing. But I love what he says starting at 3:16, which is where I've cued up this video below.
6 creative & affordable ways to learn a language
How-toAs classical singers, we constantly are looking for creative ways to learn a language quickly and affordably. Languages are important to our craft: we sing in different languages, we work in different countries, and our colleagues speak different languages. Yet we’re often not in another country long enough to learn the language by exposure alone.
4 tips for when there are too many notes
How-toWhen it comes to singing coloratura, it's easy to imagine that there are those who can, and those who cannot. "She's always been able to move her voice," we say, as if it's a skill one is born with. That may be true, but it doesn't mean the rest of you will never sing fast notes.
In review: Death & Desire
ReviewDeath & Desire is a blending of two art song cycles. One, Die schöne Müllerin by the art song emperor, Franz Schubert and the second by France's master of the bird call, Olivier Messiaen, called Harawi. It's not an opera in the traditional sense, as per usual with AtG. It is, however, one of the most coherent, artistic and thrilling examples of lyric theatre to date.
Breeches, trousers, and pants
EditorialThe value of the male soprano voice comes from an aesthetic of another time. It's a curiously stubborn aesthetic, too. There was obvious value placed on a high voice with agility and expression, and yet turning to women to provide that kind of sound was bluntly off the table. The castration of promising young singers was, according to history, a better option than training women and letting them perform.
Harawi? What's that?
EditorialIt's not hard to see why Harawi is a good partner to Die Schöne Müllerin. Love, seemingly one-sided. results in the complete spectrum between ecstasy and death. I was curious to know more, so I sat down with pianist, Messaien enthusiast, and Against the Grain Theatre Music Director, Topher Mokrzewski.
And I Know Things Now
EditorialNice is indeed diff'rent than Good! These words came to mind recently again when a person who I'm sure thinks of themselves as a good person was causing another person to suffer greatly. They did it nicely and that's why I think they thought they were still doing good. Nope, not good at all.
Kristin Hoff's Love Songs
ReviewAs part of Sing! - The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival, I heard mezzo Kristin Hoff perform the one-woman vocal feat by Ana Sokolovic, Love Songs. The work was commissioned by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre (premiered in 2009 by Lauren Phillips), and it's a compilation of love poetry in over 100 hundred languages, all sung a cappella.