Q & A: Conductor Ivor Bolton on History with Salzburg Festival & Cultural Crisis Caused by COVID-19

(Credit: Ben Wright Photography) This year marked the 100th anniversary of the renowned Salzburg Festival in Austria. A critical milestone for the festival, they chose to still responsibly present the event this summer, albeit with a severely reduced program and heightened safety and security in response to the global pandemic. British conductor Ivor Bolton lead the Mozarteumsorchester Salzburg performing a {…}

Sep 9, 2020

Q & A: Mezzo-Soprano Daniela Barcellona on the Differences Between Verdi & Rossini

(Credit: Studio Amati_Bacciardi) Few singers have dominated the Rossini repertory in recent years the way Daniella Barcellona has. She debuted at the Rossini Festival in 1999 in the title role of “Tancredi,” and has since appeared in recordings of such works as “Sigismondo,” “La Donna del Lago,” “Il Viaggio a Reims,” “Adelaide of Borgogna,” and “Bianca de Falliero;” she has {…}

Sep 8, 2020

Q & A: Bass-Baritone Derek Welton on ‘Elektra,’ Greek Tragedy, & the Salzburg Festival

Bass-baritone Derek Welton started his journey toward performing on the big stages in Australia when, after language studies and social work in 2004, he discovered his passion for singing. Then, an unexpected grant and a victory in the Australian Singing Competition helped Welton continue his path to Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Soon thereafter, the singer was {…}

Sep 6, 2020

Vocal Health – ‘Vocology Ireland’ Founder Eimear McCarthy Luddy on Providing a Major Resource for Artists

(Credit: Lucy Nuzum Photography) Eimear McCarthy Luddy has the admirable, but lofty, goal of becoming a major resource about vocal health and voice science for singers based in Ireland, where these resources are scarce. The Dublin-based mezzo-soprano and founder of Vocology Ireland told OperaWire, “I don’t want singers to feel alone or to feel like they have done something wrong.” {…}

Sep 4, 2020

Q & A: Alice Chung on MARLI, Wear Yellow Proudly & Change In Opera

(Credit: Courtesy of Music Academy of the West) Back in April the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara cancelled the in-person part of its summer program. As a result, it put all of its resources into building a high-quality online program for the summer called MARLI (Music Academy Remote Learning Institute). The program provided quality technology and training {…}

Sep 2, 2020

Q & A: Johannes Martin Kränzle on Christof Loy’s New ‘Così fan tutte’ at the Salzburg Festival, Role Preparation, & German Vocal Instruction

Before German baritone, composer, and instrumentalist Johannes Martin Kränzle joined the ranks of singers, he studied violin and directed music theater in Hamburg. The baritone studied voice with Martin Gründler and began his operatic career at such venues as Theater Dortmund, Staatsoper Hannover, and the ensemble of Oper Frankfurt. Since then, Kränzle has sung at the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House; {…}

Sep 1, 2020

Q & A: Tenor Matthäus Schmidlechner on ‘Elektra’ At Salzburg & Managing the Challenges of Performance & Preparation in the Time of COVID

Born and raised in Salzburg, tenor Matthäus Schmidlechner was brought to Linz by his career. While he works as an ensemble member of the state opera theater of Linz, each year he also makes appearances in his birth town, performing on stage of Salzburg Festival. In 2018 and 2019 he performed the role of the first Jew in R. Castellucci’s {…}

Aug 31, 2020

Q & A: Seljan Nasibli on Her Debut Album ‘Femme Fatales: Soprano Heroines from the Orient’

Back in February Seljan Nasibli released her debut album “Femme Fatales: Soprano Heroines from the Orient” on Naxos. The recording was inspired by Nasibli’s heritage and her search to represent her background through the operatic canon. The rising star soprano, who recently won the Debut Concert Hamburg International Competition and debuted at the Carnegie Hall’s Kurt Weill Recital Hall, spoke {…}

Aug 28, 2020

Q & A: Raehann Bryce-Davis on Music Video, Race Relations & Inclusivity

In March Raehann Bryce-Davis was in Los Angeles performing “Roberto Devereux” when the COVID-19 Pandemic struck and all performances were canceled. The world changed and Bryce-Davis was left without work. The mezzo-soprano, who is one of today’s leading rising stars in the opera world, was forced to rethink her career like many other singers. In the midst of the pandemic, {…}

Aug 15, 2020

Q & A: Elsa Dreisig on ‘Così Fan Tutte,’ COVID-19, the Salzburg Festival & Her Rising Star Status

Earlier this season, rising star soprano Elsa Dreisig was set to make her role debut as Fiordiligi in “Cosi Fan Tutte” in Berlin. However, as was the case with most plans in 2020, COVID-19 canceled out that possibility. For the time being, it seemed that that auspicious debut would have to wait. But as fate would have it, Dreisig, a {…}

Aug 14, 2020

Q & A: Tenor Bogdan Volkov on Making his ‘Unexpected’ Debut at the Salzburg Festival

(Credit: Kristina Kalinina) Among the many performers at this year’s unique Salzburg Festival is tenor Bogdan Volkov. A former student at the Glier Kiev Institute of Music and Tchaikovsky Kiev National Academy of Music, and a frequent performer at Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Volkov is making his debut with the festival as a part of this year’s production of “Così {…}

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