Mildly amusing: the Wiki Opera Game

Humour

Well, how about the opera version of the Wikipedia Game*? The premise is simple: go to the Wikipedia home page, and on the left hand side, click on "random article." Starting from this random page, the goal is to get to the Wiki article on "Opera" in as few clicks as possible, using only the hyperlinked words within each page along the way.

Can you say, "Yannick Nézet-Séguin"?

Humour

A little bit Stephen Colbert-esque, Nick chats with greats like conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Emmanuel Ax (or, Yo-Yo Ma's accompanist) about their work. We can't quite tell if the interviewees knew what they were getting into with Nick, but we like it.

Amy Winehouse & the power of an audience

Editorial

What struck us about her story is the apparently objective frenzy that audiences have over the human voice. Singers of all genres are made to understand early on that their voice is only part of a puzzle (albeit a vital part); they need self-discipline, they need to hustle and make business contacts, they need to want their career to happen, and to make their career happen.

How to empathize with singers

Editorial

When pianists and singers work together, they're basically trying to connect to how the other approaches music, and combine their skills and ideas. For young pianists, it can be a huge learning curve to start to think like a singer. Fortunately (or unfortunately, for the shy), the fastest way to build your singer empathy is simply to become one.

Talking with singers: Lise Lindstrom

Interview

"I sing because I couldn't NOT sing. There was nothing else I was particularly good at or interested in, so thank heaven it worked out! I am truly an artist at heart, and the joy I feel when being able to express myself through my voice is absolutely unparalleled."

Redefining the goal

Op-ed

My own obsession with technique made me terrified to sing in front of my peers. I knew that they were only judging me: a baritone singing tenor rep. Worthless technique. I hated the feeling of judgmental eyes on me and I had nothing to say with the music I was singing. For me, technique was the only thing that mattered. But it’s not.

In review: Béatrice et Bénédict at Glyndebourne

Review

In the great gag scenes with the Glyndebourne Chorus, Lionel Lhote was a big bite of extra comedy as Somarone, the music master. Lhote seemed a delightful buffo combination of the Komponist from Ariadne auf Naxos, Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Bartolo from Il barbiere di Siviglia.

In review: A Midsummer Night's Dream at Glyndebourne

Review

The royal fairy pair were delightfully complemented by David Evans as Puck, who was one part eerie, and one part utterly charming. He brought the audience to roaring applause at the finale, after an evening of chuckles and smitten murmuring from the crowd.

Adele & knowing your audience

Editorial

It must be a strange thing to know that you're an artist who's in demand enough to be on a realistic list of artists who may sing at an event like the Superbowl, but that you're not the kind of artist to give a good show in that context. Artists of all calibres, and particularly opera singers, get put in plenty of little situations where the idea of the gig is better than the reality.

In review: The Threepenny Opera

Review

Singing curse words and unromantic sex are still relatively rare on the opera stage, even if the stories themselves are full of the same amount of emotional extremes. Whether or not you're the type to point at "gratuity" or "shock value," what Norris' production achieves is a totally organic theatre experience. At times the whole thing feels like meta-theatre, and other times the action holds you rapt.