Revisiting Diagnosis: Diabetes

Interview

A few months ago, we spoke with pianist and composer Michael Park about his new one-act, interactive chamber opera, Diagnosis: Diabetes. Since our interview, Park has seen the workshop premiere of his opera with Vancouver's Erato Ensemble, and received the first audience feedback from the performance. Many listeners were new to opera in general, and even more were there to learn about this unique perspective on experiencing life with diabetes.

Betany Coffland: creating operatic bouquets

Interview

It’s funny what happens when you let go and put out your truth to the world. Good things happen. So, I recommend for all singers at whatever stage of their career, look for passion. Passion is cultivating, inspiring and uplifting and it will only enhance your life and therefore, your art.

Album review: Cloud Light

Review

The Canadian Art Song Project has released its second full-length recording (the first being 2014's Ash Roses), which features the music of Polish-born composer Norbert Palej (currently teaching at the University of Toronto), performed by five important Canadian artists of today. Cloud Light, released this year by Centrediscs, is an album of music "that actively grapples with the modern understanding of art song and demonstrates that it is still a genre capable of the most profound musical expression and innovation."

In review: Paul Appleby at Wigmore Hall

Review

It's noteworthy when a singer, in the midst of a busy schedule on the opera stage, is equally dedicated to his work in recital. Tenor Paul Appleby is a thoughtful artist, and he seems to relish the chance not only to tell many small stories in one sitting, but to collect them into a larger story arc of his own creation.

Spotlight on: Lara Ciekiewicz

Interview

"Before every performance, I will take a few minutes to walk the stage and look out into the empty hall. I look out at all the seats waiting to be filled and wonder who will be sitting there. When you are in the middle of a performance, it can be easy to look into the darkness and see it as this single black hole. However, if there are 2200 seats in the hall, that makes 2200 people, each with their own story - waiting to laugh, cry, cheer the heroes, and curse the villain! It is my job to sing for each of those people and to connect to them through the music."

In review: Il trittico at ROH

Review

We were thrilled to get a three-for-one deal with our inaugural trip to the ROH, in the form of Richard Jones' production of Puccini's Il trittico. The through line holding together the stories of Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi was the original theme: the fact that Puccini wrote them. The shows looked as different as the stories they told, and it was a true feast for opera lovers with slight ADD.

In review: The Talisker Players & Spirit Dreaming

Review

The night's program, Spirit Dreaming, was a presentation of various creation myths from around the world. The eclectic program included readings from "Beginnings: Creation Myths of the World", edited by Penelope Farmer, and "In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World", compiled by Virginia Hamilton, read wonderfully by actor Andrew Moodie.

Aria guides: O sleep, why dost thou leave me?

Editorial

For young singers, it's a fantastic way of working on breath control, and singing in that "not quite high enough" register that many sopranos find difficult. Read on to find a few general guidelines to get you through this aria; along with your teachers and coaches, we can help keep things simple, and indulgent in the right ways.

What #OscarsSoWhite can learn from opera

Op-ed

Perhaps opera is making a mess of this whole thing by keeping racist shows like Madama Butterfly on stages, or even sexist shows like The Marriage of Figaro alive and well. And yes, film is different than opera; a film doesn't go through different productions, doesn't get re-made over and over again with new casts of characters. But I think there's light in our madness, because it means we've paid attention to the stories themselves, rather than the people charged with telling them.

A funny thing happened on the way to the opera

Op-ed

When the average, non-opera-obsessed North American attends an opera, they come away with the tale that they've seen La bohème or Aïda, and that's the end of it. They're not likely to tell their fellow, non-opera-obsessed friends that they saw "Zeffirelli's Bohème" or "Tim Albery's Aïda". There's nothing maliciously ignorant about any of this. It's just not how North Americans generally understand the process of putting an opera onstage.