4 reasons to get excited about opera in 2018

Editorial

Readers, what are you looking forward to in your operatic lives this year? Every now and then it's nice to take stock of the exciting things on the horizon, to keep us interested and invested in the art form we all love. We've got four things for opera fans to get properly pumped about in 2018:

An encore to remember: high notes & marriage proposals

Humour

Tenor Clay Hilley knows how to pair business with pleasure: in his recital for the Wagner Society of New York on January 6, the tenor took an encore - and an opportunity to publicly propose to his girlfriend, Sara (of the very fab Shoperatic, in fact!).

Talking with singers: Beste Kalender

Interview

"I know many colleagues who have met their favourite mentors, got their first connections with the Metropolitan Opera, or connected with highly regarded agents in the States during or after their performances at The Song Continues."

TOT's Candide: "It's very sincere and passionate."

Interview

"I feel the piece itself is a deep commentary on the organization of mankind, a musing on the structures we put in place to prevent chaos, and a mirror into the follies of our past and in some cases our present. It is an accounting of worth through the eyes of the innocent, when we still look for the best possible world."

Talking with conductors: Alexander Joel

Interview

"I actually started off by doing only operetta," Joel notes, insistent that learning to lead operas with a lot of rubato is the best way into the technique of conducting. "You have to know how to really control the orchestra with singers, to feel where they're going to move."

Greg & Jenna's #RoundUp2017

Editorial

Can you believe it's that time already? The end of the twelfth month is upon us, and we have a duty to reflect on the year. 2017 brought lots of goodies: high notes, great conversations, and even a puppet opera. Greg and Jenna whittled down the year's riches to their top 5 picks:

The beginning of the end of my dream

Op-ed

This time it is different. Now I'm truly allowing myself to give it up. It is without bitterness or resentment. I am discovering all the of possibilities I still have to be a creative and an artist, and I've identified the feeling in my gut that I mistook for fear to be my intuition telling me, "you can let this go now."

Cautiously aspirational: Book of Dreams

Review

GLMMR's creative team has constructed a scenario in which a Promethean ur-man (David Adam Moore) grapples with a deity-like overseer (pre-recorded narration by new-music impresario Beth Morrison), as he searches for identity in a world bereft of humankind.

Talking with singers: Clay Hilley

Interview

"Another temporary obstacle is youth. For the longest time, the toughest thing for me was evading debt collectors long enough to absorb as much as I could about style, language, and technique to eventually earn enough coins to appease them, however temporarily. Impresarios are justifiably skeptical of 30 year old self-proclaimed "Heldentenors." It takes a while to prove yourself to the casting crowd."

When opera companies protect abusers

Op-Ed

It is irresponsible and dangerous to assume that a criminal's colleagues are unaware or indifferent to such serious offenses. This attitude needs to be addressed. An entire art form is at stake.