Don't miss: Hercules vs Vampires

Interview

"There will certainly be places in the work where people will laugh at things onscreen which are unintentionally funny. This is a great thing, and I want audiences to laugh if they feel inclined, I want them to cheer Hercules and to boo the forces of evil."

Strange sensual energy: Salome at ROH

Review

I didn't love the conceptual presentation of the Dance of the Seven Veils. It felt contrived and obvious, with its Freudian symbolism. I wanted more mystery, more horror and more beauty from it. Like the set, it felt distinctly 21st-century. It lacked the fragrance and uncomfortable beauty of Strauss' score and the original text itself.

More operatic roles for women: a pledge

Op-ed

Opera plots have traditionally required dramatic, pot-boiling plots, often inspired by history. And murder, mayhem, and power have certainly been male dominated. But moving forward, successful lyric theater stories need not always be centered on these kinds of themes.

Satire meets serious singing: TOT's Candide

Review

There was also the choice for some characters to use dialects - dangerous territory when you're already dealing with the pitfalls of Mid-Atlantic English pronunciation. I found the inconsistency of the dialects to be a bit distracting in the longer dialogue scenes, but the focus on great singing always brought you back home.

4 reasons to get excited about opera in 2018

Editorial

Readers, what are you looking forward to in your operatic lives this year? Every now and then it's nice to take stock of the exciting things on the horizon, to keep us interested and invested in the art form we all love. We've got four things for opera fans to get properly pumped about in 2018:

An encore to remember: high notes & marriage proposals

Humour

Tenor Clay Hilley knows how to pair business with pleasure: in his recital for the Wagner Society of New York on January 6, the tenor took an encore - and an opportunity to publicly propose to his girlfriend, Sara (of the very fab Shoperatic, in fact!).

Talking with singers: Beste Kalender

Interview

"I know many colleagues who have met their favourite mentors, got their first connections with the Metropolitan Opera, or connected with highly regarded agents in the States during or after their performances at The Song Continues."

TOT's Candide: "It's very sincere and passionate."

Interview

"I feel the piece itself is a deep commentary on the organization of mankind, a musing on the structures we put in place to prevent chaos, and a mirror into the follies of our past and in some cases our present. It is an accounting of worth through the eyes of the innocent, when we still look for the best possible world."

Talking with conductors: Alexander Joel

Interview

"I actually started off by doing only operetta," Joel notes, insistent that learning to lead operas with a lot of rubato is the best way into the technique of conducting. "You have to know how to really control the orchestra with singers, to feel where they're going to move."

Greg & Jenna's #RoundUp2017

Editorial

Can you believe it's that time already? The end of the twelfth month is upon us, and we have a duty to reflect on the year. 2017 brought lots of goodies: high notes, great conversations, and even a puppet opera. Greg and Jenna whittled down the year's riches to their top 5 picks: