“The last of the old great masters of song” has been a term used to describe the German baritone Benjamin Appl. Hailed for his “sensitive legato,” Appl has performed in both opera and recitals around the world in such stages as Ravinia, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Edinburgh International, Life Victoria Barcelona, Leeds Lieder, Oxford Lieder festivals, and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, among others. {…}
“Alone we can do so little; together, we can do so much.” Our community has a massive impact on who we are to become and this could not be truer for those those impacted by The Governor’s School of the Arts (GSA). The school, which became a full-time program in 1987 with the aim of nurturing young artists at the {…}
Since tenor Levy Sekgapane won Operalia in 2017, he has been in great demand and with every subsequent performance he is quickly establishing himself as one of the best of his generation. It is no surprise that 2018 has been big year for Sekgapane as he has made major debuts in European stages from Baltic states to the U.K. and {…}
“They just don’t sing as well as they used to.” You’ve heard it at some point during your opera-going. Some might dismiss such a statement as Golden Age Fallacy, nostalgic thinking that only emphasizes the positive aspects of the past and holding them up as better than the positives of the modern era. But Conrad L. Osborne thinks that is {…}
Coloratura Soprano Kathryn Lewek never set out to be opera’s reigning Queen of the Night, Mozart’s show-stealing villainess of “Die Zauberflöte” (“The Magic Flute”). But fate had other ideas. In this case, fate was personified by a casting director. Refusing the Call During a competition for the Opera Foundation in New York, the Deutsche Oper’s Casting Director, Christoph Seuferle asked {…}
Raffaele Pè is a singer very much in demand. Having been carefully building his reputation over the past few years, he now appears to have catapulted himself into the limelight with his latest CD of 18th century arias, written by a variety of composers, for the character of Giulio Cesare. Not only has it received excellent reviews from critics across {…}
The singers, the director, and the conductor are usually the ones to get the major spotlight in the opera world. And yet, in many respects, they wouldn’t be doing anything if not for the people that bring the musical score (the single most important document when it comes to interpreting opera)to life. That task falls on the orchestra and among {…}
Mark S. Doss is an artist recognized for his wide range, not just in his roles, but in his life experience. The singer has performed with the major orchestras of San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, and Toronto. Additionally, he has sung 95 roles with more than 60 major opera companies around the world including Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna State Opera, London’s Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Canadian Opera Company.
The role of Gretel has always had a special significance for soprano Liv Redpath. When she was in the youth program at The Minnesota Opera, she got the chance to take on the role for the first time in the program’s yearly “Hansel and Gretel” and she immediately knew that opera would be an essential part of her career. These {…}