Interviews

Talking with singers: Étienne Dupuis

Talking with singers: Étienne Dupuis

“My answer was always the same, and I think confinement has just strengthened it,” Dupuis says. “It's because, emotionally, we need to share something communally.”

Jenna Simeonov
Talking with singers: Pene Pati

Talking with singers: Pene Pati

"I like having the feeling that I can bring a poster home from the Wiener Staatsoper or from the Met or from the San Francisco Opera and it has his name on it rather than mine. I feel like it's a good tribute to the man who’s raised me. I also sing for my island of Samoa and I sing for the Pacific people who don't really have this opportunity."

Eva Cahen
A Merry Return to the Mainstage

A Merry Return to the Mainstage

Inside Calgary Opera’s preparations for The Merry Widow in spite of COVID.

Oliver Munar
Stephanie Blythe: "I can't help but try to connect with people."

Stephanie Blythe: "I can't help but try to connect with people."

"I've been singing Handel and Rossini and Wagner and Verdi and Schubert and Brahms my whole career. What's the difference if I'm doing that or doing Irving Berlin and Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer and Barry Manilow? It's all music and it’s all just different styles and I enjoy singing them all."

Eva Cahen
Calgary Opera names Jonathan Brandani new Artistic Director

Calgary Opera names Jonathan Brandani new Artistic Director

The Italian-born conductor led Calgary Opera production of La bohème in 2019.

Oliver Munar
Talking with singers: Matthew Anchel

Talking with singers: Matthew Anchel

"What I think happens a lot, is that you have people who are maybe more stereotypically attractive in thin bodies, who maybe have medium voices — not the best voices in the world." These singers are well promoted, Anchel says, and they get opportunities to work with opera's best. "So they get really good at singing, even though maybe their voice isn't that amazing."

Jenna Simeonov
Radical women & drag Don José: Chicago Opera Theater's Carmen

Radical women & drag Don José: Chicago Opera Theater's Carmen

"Women who are independent, strong, and sexually liberated have a long history of receiving society's scorn because they refuse to break themselves in order to fit the approved mold. Carmen is many things, but a slutty, evil temptress? Nope."

Jenna Simeonov
Inaugural Watershed Festival to celebrate opera & musical theatre in Kingston

Inaugural Watershed Festival to celebrate opera & musical theatre in Kingston

The virtual start to the Watershed Festival is no compromise, no placeholder for the in-person Festival set for spring 2022. "Going virtual has a number of silver linings," says Burry. "We've got people joining us from around the world, and I would imagine the best aspects of that kind of reach will always be a part of the festival moving forward."

Jenna Simeonov
Catching up with Enrique Mazzola

Catching up with Enrique Mazzola

"Our city" – It was a phrase that came up often in our conversation. It's clear Maestro Mazzola already has one foot firmly planted in his newly adopted hometown. As he confessed, he is excited to spend his first holiday season in Chicago despite health restrictions and cancellations.

Michael Pecak
Haymarket Opera Company's 10th Anniversary Season goes cinematic

Haymarket Opera Company's 10th Anniversary Season goes cinematic

"What does 18th-century opera have to offer us now when we face such existential challenges? Haymarket's tenth season highlights the transformational power of beauty as presented through myth, storytelling, and exquisitely timeless music by one of western music's most empathetic and compassionate composers."

Jenna Simeonov

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