Q & A: Tenor Paul Appleby on Contemporary Operas & Run AMOC* Festival, Politics in the Arts, & His 2025-26 Slate

(Photo Credit : Jonathan-Tichler) “La Damnation de Faust.” “La Rondine.” “Die Schöpfung.” “In a Grove.” “St. Matthew Passion.” “Antony and Cleopatra.” These are just a few of the many projects that tenor Paul Appleby took on this past season. What stands out in this list is how wide-ranging it is in its artistic exploration. There are several contemporary works, sacred {…}

Q & A: Mezzo-Soprano Indyana Schneider on Her Second Novel: Since the World is Ending

The first draft didn’t work. Australian mezzo-soprano and novelist Indyana Schneider says that plainly, without flinching. By the time Schneider’s debut novel, “28 Questions,” hit shelves in January 2022, she’d already completed a full draft of her follow-up, “Since the World is Ending,” and it wasn’t good. But what followed was, in her words, “a really fun journey.” That journey {…}

Q & A: Valentin Schwarz on the Bayreuth Festival’s ‘Ring Cycle’

(Credit: Daniel.Karmann) At the age of 33 Vienna-based Valentin Schwarz designed and directed a controversial staging of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” which for the past four years has been featured at the celebrated Bayreuth Festival. This August 2025 marks Bayreuth’s final performance of Schwarz’s “Ring.” Starting in the autumn, he becomes artistic director of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle {…}

Q & A: Carolina López Moreno on Her Royal Opera House Debut, Origins & Living in the Moment

(Photo credit : Nadeesha Rathnayake)   Carolina López Moreno, Bolivian-Albanian Soprano, born and raised in Germany, is a versatile, award-winning artist, and is regarded as one of the most promising sopranos of her generation. On the brink of an international career, she has already collaborated with renowned orchestras and conductors, including the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano and {…}

Q & A: Mezzo-Soprano Helen Charlston On Her Career & Award-Winning Recordings

(Photo: Julien Gazeau) Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston is rapidly making a name for herself in the world of classical music, especially for her expressive renditions of works from the baroque period. She already has a substantial discography, including the award-winning 2022 release, “Battle Cry,” and the fascinating disc of contemporary music, entitled “Isolation Songbook,” which was created in response to the {…}

Q & A: Soprano Federico Fiorio On Performing Monteverdi’s ‘I Grotteschi’ And On His Work With Karalis Antiqua

(Photo: Federico Melis) Federico Fiorio is a male soprano, specializing in the baroque. I first came across him on his professional debut in 2018 when he was performing at Venice’s Teatro Malibran, in which he impressed with his “high degree of vocal control and versatility.” Since then, and almost by chance, I have had the opportunity of reviewing many of {…}