Why we all love Florence Foster Jenkins

Editorial

Even the legend of Jenkins is almost enough to bring tears to our eyes. She went through a lot of tough stuff, and it's poignant for us, as writers of reviews, that even she, with all her well-placed ignorance and unashamed love for music, was deeply hurt by the negativity hurled at her from critics. Aren't we all searching for Jenkins' mix of unapologetic joy, and transparent vulnerability?

Updating operas: why stop at the libretto?

Editorial

Does this point to a subtle, non-malicious, yet inherent slight towards libretti, and by extension, librettists? If opera is the spectacular melding of music and text, why does the former seem more sacred than the latter? And finally, is an updated libretto to the tune of un-updated music a fundamentally incomplete idea?

Is it time for the Met to move?

Editorial

It would be decidedly difficult for the Met as a company to wriggle free from the Met as a building. They're absolutely one and the same, especially for the new audiences, who are being courted while loyal subscribers grow older, and single-ticket buyers become more important sales targets. For these new people that the Met wants in their seats, the experience of going to that building is as much a part of the evening as the show itself.

Rarities: opera stage parents

Editorial

So, because training for opera takes patience and nurturing, and rarely results in the kind of fame and fortune that makes terrible parents proud, have we escaped the curse of stage moms and dads? Is opera an ironic blind spot, ignored by the validation seekers in favour of TV commercials and youth beauty pageants?

Party arias: the traits of lesser operas?

Editorial

When it's harder to pull a section away from an entire scene, to find the real beginnings and ends of an aria, does that mean the opera is a purer melding of theatre and music? When a singer fights the urge to sing a bit from Bluebeard's Castle, and opts instead for "Quando m'en vo", are her urges founded in some quantifiable difference in quality?

Watch: Rolando Villazón brings Don Giovanni to life

Editorial

He talks with historians and experts about the public hype around Mozart's tale of Don Juan, hears the sound of period instruments, learns the dances of the day, and explores the dangers of special effects in the 18th-century. We find out what the audience ate and drank during the show, how they wandered around the theatre, chatting and singing along.

36 high C's to perk up your day

Editorial

Tonight, we're pretty excited to hear Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez in recital at Royal Albert Hall, as part of the Rosenblatt Recital series. The tenor is famous for his stratospheric singing, and although one of his signature arias, "Ah, mes amis" from Donizetti's La fille du régiment isn't listed on his programme, there's always the promise of an encore...

Helpful singers: opera does house calls

Editorial

To singers and others immersed in opera, this may seem like a surprising way for people to seek therapy; our first reaction was to go through a mental list of arias, and imagine what operatic excerpts would serve to help people with their modern-day problems. It's an amazing test of time for the repertoire, and for the singers, who choose arias for people going through romantic troubles, problems with children or parents, bereavement, symptoms of depression, or the good old "sick of being single".

Undergrad degrees & why you'll use that theory class after all

Editorial

It's true that "school", whatever that means to you, isn't for everyone. No formalized system of learning will fit all, and musicians perhaps have an advantage when it comes to examples of successful rebels of the education system. That's different than deeming a university course "not practical" or "pointless". It's a funny, bold thing to decide that you know that much about the topic, before finishing the course. Simply put, you don't know what you don't know.

Delightfully creepy: Mahogany Opera Group's The Rattler

Editorial

The Rattler is terrifying, in a way that would make the Brothers Grimm proud. The Rattler himself is a puppet, a confusing and repulsive thing that calls to mind Egyptian mummies, Disney's The Skeleton Dance, and the big hyena scene from The Lion King. Singers double as puppeteers, their Rattler-work resulting in hysterical shrieks from the young audience. Martin Riley adapts the story into a libretto, and Stephen Deazley's music covers everything from plaintive folk songs to familiar jigs; as any good show should be, the music is catchy yet smart, singer-friendly yet arguably not easy.