What crippling stage fright taught me about money

Op-ed

A money technique is built in the same way, by investing hours of time into building solid fundamentals. Instead of breath, it's cashflow (the daily ins and outs of your money), instead of onsets it's deliberate decision making (learning to stop making default money decisions and make the ones you really want), and instead of working with someone to lift your soft palette, you work with someone to find one of a thousand little ways you can make your money life easier (by building a safety net, learning to save, and eliminating debt).

In review: Glory Denied

Review

The work questions the perspective of emotional trauma, and whose is the most devastating? Is it enduring a prison camp for years only to return to an unrecognizable life? Is it enduring a different kind of prison-like solitude, guilt when one's life's work isn't enough? Nashville Opera's production of Glory Denied, fittingly opened on Veterans' Day, is now one of only five or six full productions of the opera.

In review: Ayre

Review

This wasn't just "Miriam sings beautifully," she brought us in and told us stories of life, danger, heartbreak, violence, and love. Miriam is - and always was - a flawless singer, but her acting in this show was unparalleled. Sensitive, candid, visceral, and dedicated to truth - all the things I crave in a theatrical performance.

In review: Lulu at ENO

Review

We have our own exasperations with the idea of a femme fatale, especially when they're two-dimensional, relying on sex and spineless men. Yet Kentridge's Lulu brings us into a specific world, while seeming to simply reveal the story without bias. Like Berg's score, the production is one we're eager to see again, to notice more details in Kentridge's layered work.

Being a helpful pianist: which is your page-turning hand?

Editorial

Our theory is that there's more nature than nurture in each pianist's preferred page-turning hand. For us, it's our left, because we find ease in a motion across the body, towards the bottom-right corner of the page; in turning the page, our left hand retracts swiftly back into playing position.

Being a helpful pianist: a note on starting notes

How-to

It's hard to describe why (acoustic physicists, please feel free to chime in here), but sometimes a singular note, played on the piano, can be hard to understand. It's not that the singer can't hear it, but the note lacks context.

Erica Iris: singing a "radically revisionist" Carmen

Interview

"Carmen is a passionate woman who lives to fulfill her own desires without compromise. She is strong-minded and determined and doesn't take "no" for an answer. In my opinion, one major misconception about Carmen is that if she's able to get out of any sticky situation, and win things in her favour, then she must have everything under control. She doesn't."

In review: the Jette Parker Young Artists present Oreste

Review

The action unfolds in the graffiti-covered, industrial corners of what could be any contemporary city. During the overture, we were treated with a picture of the goings-on under Toante: a ruthless leader, his witless captain of the guard, and a near-mad Ifigenia, who through rogue mascara, bludgeons to death one unlucky visitor with a hammer. Narrative hook, indeed.

Album review: All Who Wander

Review

"Sure, I didn't grow up in a gypsy camp," says Barton of Dvořák's songs, "but I do have fond memories of playing music around a bonfire with family and dancing. I treasure my memories of family members teaching me the songs of where I come from. I identify with trying to find myself, and wanting to walk/dance/boogie down to the beat of my own drum."

Talking with singers: Massimo Cavalletti

Interview

"I am also happy to come from a family of farmers, from the land that has given and still gives me my cultural and historical roots as well as an attachment to the values of family, homeland and faith, which in many cases are at the foundation of opera itself."