Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou at the Armory: the only place to be
Humour
4 weird rehearsal moments from the piano bench
HumourRehearsals are a lot of things; they're stressful, fun, boring, inspiring, and weird. The last one is probably the most true, and opera folk tend to get de-sensitized to the weird stuff pretty quickly. Obvious examples are hilariously pouffy rehearsal skirts, sopranos who mark with bass-like chest voices, and the generally weird shorthand between the artists ("are we going from vrum-da-DUM or from tinklytinkly?"). I thought I'd share some of these odd moments that I've experienced from my seat at the piano.
R/Opera and Elephant's Ears
HumourI was perusing the opera corner of Reddit and came across a fantastic post by a user who needed help in naming that opera tune that he/she had just heard.
Mozart's Birthday Doozy
HumourAs someone who has his own laundry list of embarrassing things done in the throes of Wild Birthday Celebration (I now celebrate an 8 day festival, commonly called 'greggyfest'), I want to share this doozy.
If opera characters went to the opera
HumourIt’s time for some beautifully nerdy, utterly hypothetical, and completely meta musings. Sure, the next few paragraphs won’t really contain any practically useful information, but it’s hard to stop me once I’ve gotten on the character-deconstruction-train that is dramaturgy. It’s my favourite pastime, and now I’m sharing it with you. I present to you all the following hypothetical: if opera characters went to the opera, what would they see? Photo: Werther after a really bad night at the opera.
Tales from the score: Bohemians in love
HumourWithout fail, in almost tedious constancy, watching La bohème brings out all the feels. Before an upcoming production, I'm more objective, and I can inwardly roll my eyes at the thought of getting swept away by a piece like La bohème. It's so obvious, I tell myself, You're falling for low-bar emotional jabs like doomed lovers and friendship despite hardship.
I kind of like Black Pearls...
HumourOne afternoon a few years back, after discovering these on YouTube, I showed them to a singer friend of mine; I figured they'd find the collection of operatic misses as fascinating as I did. My singer friend didn't find it fascinating, perhaps due to the sympathy he couldn't help but feel for the voices.
Star Trek and the opera
HumourSo, I have a loving husband who happens to be a Star Trek fan. There's not a whole lot of direct overlap between a sci-fi lover and an opera lover, but one point of contact is in Robert Picardo, (aka The Doctor), and his singing skills on Star Trek: Voyager.
Schmoperanation!
HumourSo, I went to this year's Operanation and I had a blast. There were bright beehive wigs, Calvin Klein underwear models, the fab Keith Cole and his walking flash mob, and of course some awesome music by Yelle, DJ Phil & DJ Cozmic Cat, joined by the guests of honour, the COC Ensemble Studio. I wandered around with my camera clicking, and got a few great shots to share. Enjoy!
Birdcalls and Spoilers
HumourThe above is a photo of a birdcall. It was recently loaned to me by the COC, because I’l be using it backstage during the twelve upcoming performances of Madama Butterfly (I know, I spoiled the magic of live birds). Backstage things like birdcalls, offstage conducting, ominous door knocking, cueing foghorns, etc., are all neat bonuses of the Music Staff job description.
Pavarotti and all his Friends
HumourI indulged in some Pavarotti & Friends today, and pulled out a few favourites to share. I recognized that song recipe for Pavarotti's duets with famous pop singers: the famous pop singer starts off by singing the first verse au naturel, and Pav joins in for the second verse, in Italian, with what sometimes sounds like a totally new melody.