Opera meets cult film: Hercules vs. Vampires

Review

The evening was a charming departure from what we think is "traditional" opera: ticket holders were encouraged to dress up in costumes to match the spooky theme of the opera, to react organically during the piece, and to generally be a bit less stuffy than normal.

Heggie's Holocaust operas see Canadian premiere

Interview

"What we wanted to explore in these pieces is, what it is to survive when you're not necessarily doing heroic things, you're just surviving," Heggie says of his Holocaust-themed one-acts. "What Krystyna had to do in order to survive was not heroic, it was horrifying."

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News

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Talking with singers: Andrea Carè

Interview

"I sincerely believe there’s not only one reason. I myself never decided or planned to sing professionally; I never thought I would manage my developing in a way that I could make this form of art my job."

Dead Man Walking makes its Minnesota Opera debut

Review

There were ominous prison guards lurking above the action throughout the whole opera, and a confusing element of the set was the huge American flag, which hung above center stage. What was the message? That Americans are the only ones who deal with capital punishment?

Talking with conductors: George Jackson

Interview

"Walking into the rehearsal room with a new orchestra is pure psychology: I find that my antennae are up, reading the room's complex dynamics in the first few minutes. It's part of the job that I love most, because it's essentially a multiplied version of one-to-one interaction."

The real reason to bring teens to the opera

Op-ed

This is a decent list of reasons to bring your teen to the opera. It's fair to add that opera is not the only place to learn these things; the list above is an argument for getting teens excited about reading, going to museums, and yes, watching well-written film and television.

Steps forward for opera's women: Tosca at PBO

Review

In a world where consent is so often coerced – Tosca's world, and ours – it's impossible not to draw comparisons to stories of #MeToo, #TimesUp, and a slew of fallen titans. It's easy to imagine Scarpia as a man who might have a button hidden beneath his desk to lock his office door.

The voice teacher series: Elizabeth McDonald

Interview

"For me, breath is the genesis of everything in life, and therefore singing, and I am a very demanding teacher when it comes to breath, especially for singers at the beginning stages of training."

Newly staged: The Diary of One Who Disappeared

Review

The singers gave gripping and intensely theatrical performances. Yet the atmosphere created was meditative, as their judicious movements possessed calm and reserve. The singing was nuanced, if at times a bit uneven. In the tenor Peter Gijsbertsen's highest register, some passages sounded tense and forced, but these were also the moments of most impassioned emotional intensity.