Aria guides: "Lieben, Hassen"

Editorial

This aria is dense and charming, and though it seems harmless, features more than a few surprising challenges. With the work you do in the practice room and with your teachers and coaches, our latest Aria Guide can help you navigate your way through this adorable little ditty.

Aria guides: Un aura amorosa

How-To

Mozart's Così fan tutte - that weird mix of romantic comedy and relationship commentary - is one of the most common picks in the operatic canon; yet for many tenors, Ferrando's first aria, "Un aura amorosa", tends to come with a bit of jitters and baggage. It's fairly slow, and sits in an exposed and tricky range of the voice. When it's done well, all the technical feats go largely unnoticed, overshadowed by the beauty of Mozart's writing.

Must-see mash-ups: Mozart vs Machine

News

"On one level, it feels very much like a musical cabaret-revue," says Wake-Walker, who directs Mozart vs Machine. "There is a narrative, there is a story that is told, but not in a traditional sense." That loose narrative tells of a malfunctioning time-machine, resulting in a chance meeting between Raymond Scott, early pioneer of electronic music, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

"Something Canadian": the Canadian Women Composers Project

News

Tonigussi has not only created a recital programme filled with music by Canadian composers and poets, but expanded her work into what is now the Canadian Women Composers Project, and taken the programme on tour with the help of pianists Jenna Richards, Narmina Efendiyeva, and Jenny Griffioen.

Don't miss Acis & Galatea: A Gender Liberation Opera

Interview

"In the world of opera and classical music, we tell a version of history that neglects LGBTQ+ people (as well as women and people of colour) and this is not because these communities and identities did not exist. It's because they were not treated equally and therefore were not as prominent in society or they assumed or feigned other identities to fit into society. Today, we embrace and celebrate diverse identities, but this is not reflected enough in our storytelling and programming in the operatic world."

Getting vexed over Wagner & other narcissisms

Op-ed

The appalled opera goers make claims about wasted money and travel time, and they take a strange stance of half-defending, half-blaming the performers onstage. But the main objections seem to be the apparent "desecration" of Wagner's work. "Yes, I naively assumed that Wagner’s family had obeyed his very exacting wishes, and that Bayreuth was the place to see his operas as he intended them," writes Peacock.

Elizabeth Cree: "The story begins with her hanging."

Interview

"Just before the noose tightens she sings, cryptically, "Here we are again!" We are then immediately thrust back to her trial, in which she is on the stand for the murder of her husband. She is sarcastic and grandiose, playing to the crowd. Then she herself takes us back to the squalid reality of her childhood and we feel for her as she dreams of the music hall and its wonders. She is very complex and interesting."

Aria guides: Sempre libera

How-To

It's a cornerstone of the operatic repertoire: Violetta's Act I aria from La traviata. It's got everything, from delicious long lines to flashy coloratura, and it has the special honour of closing the opera's first act. Violetta is a role that most sopranos covet, and many of them start their Traviata trip with "Sempre libera". Along with the work you do with your voice teachers and coaches, our latest Aria Guide a little naviagtion kit to help you along your way:

Aria guides: Embroidery Aria

How-To

Have you ever been faced with an ugly truth that's hard to deny? That's the gist of the stunning "Embroidery Aria", sung by Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes. The Embroidery Aria is no easy sing, and as you work on it in the practice room and with your teachers and coaches, we can help you get off on the right track with our latest Aria Guide:

Aria guides: the Composer's Aria

How-To

It's brisk, colourful, more than a little meta in subject matter, and it's a trouser role to boot. It's a densely packed aria that shows off your goods, and there's a fine line to tread between singing beautifully in the way that Strauss so often asks for, and pushing your voice into the realm of screaming.