Tales from the Kammeroper at Rheinsberg Castle

Interview

"I think the most important thing I've learned working in Germany over the summer is patience and flexibility during the rehearsal process. With so many people coming from various backgrounds and with so much interpreting and so many languages, you have to be patient with both yourself and everyone else as we all slowly but surely figure out the story we want to tell."

Spotlight on: Will Liverman

Interview

"I enjoy singing because of the rush I get every time I'm onstage. There's absolutely nothing like it and there's nothing better than having that chance to move someone to tears or laughter through the power of music and performance."

What else are singers great at?

Editorial

When singers travel for work, they're not just choosing to spend time alone; for weeks or months at a time, singers are on their own in a new city, often without friends or family to keep them company. Loneliness can set in, or even boredom, both dangerous things when your job depends on your physical and mental health.

Great ideas: Portland Opera à la Cart

Editorial

A Portland Opera-style cart is a brilliant way of showcasing opera presented by one or several companies; in the same way that a picture is worth a thousand words, offering up short bites of opera to listeners is the perfect marketing campaign to lure audiences to future full-length productions.

Spotlight on: Diego Silva

Interview

"I make a living from doing what I love to do, and my schedule is always changing and includes lots of travel. I never get bored because I have to study a lot of different music in different languages and there is always room for improvement."

Young singing done right: Aksel Rykkvin

News

It's entirely refreshing to hear 13-year old Aksel Rykkvin, Norwegian boy soprano. With early classical training, Rykkvin has already appeared with Norwegian National Opera; now, he has released an album of arias by Mozart, Handel and Bach, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under conductor Nigel Short.

Operalia & advertising

Editorial

Promoting Domingo, in between the well-honed performances of the Operalia finalists, felt in opposition to the competition's mission. The business of advertising seemed to take over the air time between competitors. Perhaps it was the perfect opportunity for Domingo to promote his work, since the Operalia audience is the right demographic to purchase a documentary like "My Greatest Roles".

Pavarotti's "Nessun dorma" & the Trump campaign

Editorial

What's likely is that the sweeping sounds of Puccini sounded fancy to the Trump folk, and that Pavarotti's voice sounds heroic (#winning). They're not wrong, but it just screams, "I heard this on YouTube once."

In review: The Rape of Lucretia at TSMF

Review

In the title role, mezzo-soprano Emma Char, was every bit of the descriptions we hear of Lucretia at the beginning of the show. Delicate, pure, and lovely on stage, she had a groundedness that I really enjoyed. The whole space seemed to calm down when she stepped on stage - which was made all the more thrilling when her character shifts to a darker place after the events of Act II.

Anne Kostalas: a year with opera singers

Interview

Filmmaker Anne Kostalas has wrapped a three-part documentary, following the lives of three young singers at Opera McGill, Schulich School of Music, Montréal. The documentary was commissioned by Patrick Hansen, head of Opera McGill, who is "thrilled at how this documentary seems like a love letter, not just to Opera McGill but to the McGill campus and all the people who study and work there."