Breathe: the latest recordings from James Rolfe

Interview

"I'm both flattered and sad that I'll be part of their final season. I will miss TMT greatly, as these pieces have marked some of my most artistically satisfying experiences. But I'll also miss the wonderful people who made these collaborations so enjoyable."

An isolated tenor in an operatic masterwork: Les contes d'Hoffmann

Review

This production's prologue opened with a sequence of generic opera tropes that undermined the opera's quality. One cliché followed another: a bad silent-movie love-pantomime, uninspired park and bark narration, a silly "Oliver Twist" money pouch, muggy chorus acting, and way too many people standing on tables. This brand of stale opera is what convinces people the form is dying.

The voice teacher series: Jane Eaglen

Interview

Eaglen has noticed that in some circles, opinions on breath support are so varied that the conversation can even make it a "dirty word" of sorts. Still, "I don't see how you can talk about singing and not talk about support," she says.

Talking with conductors: Riccardo Frizza

Interview

"I believe that there is always a mutual learning process between performers and conductors. If a conductor is well trained he can pass a great deal of his wisdom to the performers, and in the same way a conductor can learn all about breathing from a singer."

Polish composers take the stage at Wigmore Hall

Review

After intermission, the pair played a short work by Mikołaj Górecki, son of the famous Henryk. The piece was called "Farewell" and though it was undeniably beautiful, it seemed to be over almost before it began. It was performed in a way that was tender and almost sentimental, but balanced with a little bit of a bite. Poster was particularly lovely in this work, nuancing every shape. Their communication as a pair was more obvious in the comparative simplicity of this work, something which was lovely to see on stage.

Nabucco is hard to find in the latest LA Opera production

Review

Yes, there was a Verdi opera somewhere in those three and a half hours - and we got to see brilliant flashes at times of what the show should and could have been - but mostly we had to wade through a lot of concept and conceit to get there. It wasn't until Act IV (the final act) that our wishes came true: singing, acting and staging that actually touched the audience, and touched us deeply.

A grand night out at Vancouver Opera's Turandot

Review

Given the size of the Chinese community in Vancouver, tackling Turandot is not only an ambitious project, but a potentially controversial one. However VO dealt with the controversies head-on, talking extensively in the program about the accusations of "Orientalism" in the score, and how they wanted to address those for a modern audience, and how these kinds of dialogues will continue to inform productions for years to come.

A "fiercely queer opera" for Halloween

Interview

"Lycanthropy is such a great metaphor for sexual fluidity," says co-librettist Teri Kowiak. "Our werewolf is not human when in human form, nor is he a wolf when he is in wolf form. He is always a werewolf, no matter how he appears at a specific time."

"A problematic creaky old masterpiece": Les vêpres siciliennes

Review

I don't understand why we haven't critically and fundamentally re-read all of these classic operas. I am a huge fan of modernising the way we produce opera, but I think has to include radical re-readings of characters and scenarios, not just new costuming and concepts.

He said/she said: a sweet Elixir at the COC

Review

Haji's Nemorino didn't whine or pine; instead, he took the refreshing route of unashamed honesty, piquing Adina's curiosity by being one of the few (only?) men in her life who presents himself as just that - himself. It brought to mind that line from The Office, when Kelly Kapoor muses, "I mean, who says exactly what they're thinking? What kind of game is that?"