The Opera Workout

Humour

Since we're amongst operaphiles, it's safe to admit that we listen to opera on and off the job. Daily commutes, housecleaning, cooking; they're all better with opera as a soundtrack. So, who here has listened to opera while working out? Hi, nice to meet you.

Mewsy goes to the Opera

Humour

This special collaboration between Schmopera and Claryon Fitzgibbon, author of the Erotic Novel in Tweets "Mewsy the Adulteress," is an exclusive preview of the first chapter of Mewsy: Part II, before it is tweeted to the public. Catch up on Part I at MewsyTheAdulteress.com, or follow @MewsyAdulteress on Twitter! Strong Adult Themes and Immodest Filth contained below.

I love this part...oh &#$*

Humour

Let me share what I think is a common source of frustration for pianists learning operas. You're playing along (sight-reading like a pro), maybe missing a few notes here and there, but getting the general sound of the show, and you get to that really famous part in that opera. Like, "Ride of the Valkyries"/"Largo al factotum"/"Toreador Song" famous.

After the opera: spin-offs we'd go see

Humour

I always love it when a supporting character in an opera steals the show. It's a tip-of-the-hat to the writing of the character, and to the singer/actor pulling it off. Sometimes these characters even stick with me longer than the leads; I imagine what happens to them after the main action has finished.

Meet Maestro Wenarto

Humour

I just want to make sure everyone knows about Maestro Wenarto. He's in Seattle, and he loves to sing on camera; he has a channel on YouTube and Vimeo, and you should go spend some time over there immediately. He's made over 1800 music videos, plenty of them operatic. I wouldn't say he's got a beautiful voice, but he's got determined pipes, and I can't argue with the élan.

Pianists' plights and opera fights

Humour

For any of those brave pianists who dive into operatic repertoire, there’s an acute awareness of playing music that’s specifically not written for the piano. While some singers revel in how beautifully Verdi or Mozart or Strauss wrote for the voice, the pianist is, at that same moment, experiencing how poorly that same music feels under our ten fingers. It’s a simple problem, and that’s that pianists in the opera world are largely stand-ins for the orchestra.

Opera Memes, Act II

Humour

A while back, I got impatient with a bunch of opera memes that were circulating around the Internet. It has happened again, partly thanks to the Opera Memes Facebook page. Here we go, for Act II of the Opera Memes Deconstruction:

r/opera's jackpot post

Humour

There is a dude out there on the Internet who has gotten the opera bug. Great news, we all say! Good choice, sir. Even better, the budding operaphile is reaching out via r/opera, asking how to get a proper introduction to opera.

Carmen, Don Juan, and gender reversal: pants roles indeed

Humour

Earlier this summer I was listening to the brilliant Graham Forst (husband of the formidable Judith Forst) give a talk on the history of the Don Juan character. He was talking about how Don Juan comes from the concept of Dionysus or Bacchus, these figures of indulgences that sound so fun.

FachMe.com: a new fun game

Humour

If you're into opera, you do that charming/annoying thing where you hear someone sing and come up with your own, brilliant list of what else that person should sing. "Her Susanna is so pretty. She'd be an awesome Lulu." Or, "Ooh, a high C!