Singingscholar

LATEST ARTICLES ( 293 )

• Semi-Scholarly Summary: Bringing Back Euridice

  

  Photo (c) Cantanti Project/Lucas Godlewski It is a truth universally acknowledged that claimants to the title of First Opera are many, though Monteverdi's... Read more

  Posted on 22 February 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Dante's Music of Paradise

  

  Dante and the Divine (Gustav Doré) I recently finished teaching Dante's Divine Comedy. Predictably, I made much of how the poem uses music. Read more

  Posted on 26 November 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Jonas Kaufmann in French

  Jonas Kaufmann's latest album, L'Opéra, is not flashy, but it is substantial. It showcases an expressive range that is impressive -- if not, at this stage of hi... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Höre Ich Zigeunerweisen? Operetta in Ohio

  

  Polish poster for the internationally popular Mariza This past Thursday, I saw the closing performance of The Countess Maritza at the Ohio Light Opera... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Blogging Backlog: Einspringen at SummerStage

  Almost an entire (calendar) season has elapsed since I attended the first in the Met's SummerStage series. I won't weary you, Gentle Readers, with a tale of my... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Sunday Special: Viva Il Vino Spumeggiante

  

  Opera cocktail I subscribe to John Keats' belief that a recipe for a perfect summer's idyll involves "books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little... Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Semi-Scholarly Summary: Cyrano De Bergerac

  

  This evening sees the opening of Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac at the Met. It's being marketed as Puccini-like, but the comparison, in my view,... Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Fritz Wunderlich Sings Schlager

  

  The new two-disc collection of Fritz Wunderlich's popular output from the 1950s and '60s is an impressive achievement on several levels. Read more

  Posted on 01 May 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Mir Ist So Wunderbar: Fidelio at the Met

  

  Happy families? Müller, Struckmann, Pieczonka in Act I Photo (c) Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera It is well-documented that I love Fidelio. Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Carmen in Central PA: Kate Aldrich Recital

  Kate Aldrich giving a recital at a small college 3 miles from where I now live struck me as a miracle of the universe, an event against the laws of natural... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Reading Round-Up: Beating the Winter Blues

  Winter and my dissertation revisions both seem endless at the moment, so my first Reading Roundup focuses on sensual poetry, superb pianism, and sexy mezzo... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Mozart with André Gide

  

  It's almost impossible to say that one time is more apt for another for listening to Mozart. But he may be especially welcome in times of uncertainty, such is... Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• In the Stream of Life: Gerald Finley Sings Sibelius

  

  I took up this CD with great eagerness, and I was still surprised by how good it is. Gerald Finley's new disc presents orchestrations of Sibelius' songs,... Read more

  Posted on 24 January 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• New Year's Resolutions (the Opera Obsession Edition)

  In place of my usual end-of-year round-up, I decided to declare New Year's Resolutions for this blog. That I'm only finalizing them now is indicative of how man... Read more

  Posted on 20 January 2017 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• La Dolce Vita With... Jonas Kaufmann?

  

  Goethe, with more brooding than this album provides (Tischbein, 1787) Germans have been semi-enviously fascinated by the land of lemon trees at least since... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• What About Callas? Comparing Generations of Opera Singers

  

  I may regret engaging with one of the opera world's most inflammatory questions, but it is one that has been nagging at my consciousness with increasing... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• O, Nun Waren Wir Nacht-Geweihte! Tristan Und Isolde at the Met

  

  Staging a perfect Tristan is one of opera's most notorious impossibilities. The Met has, to my mingled astonishment and gratitude, succeeded in staging one... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Serpent and Fire: Anna Prohaska's Mythical Queens

  

  I've been fascinated with Anna Prohaska since this came out several years ago. Her latest album, Serpent and Fire, displays a similar flair for the theatrical,... Read more

  Posted on 16 October 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Operatic Ephemera: Tristan at the Met

  

  In about a month's time, I will see the Met's new Tristan und Isolde with my mother (her conversion from opera-skeptic to budding Wagnerite is chronicled... Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Allegro Io Son: Brownlee's Bel Canto

  

  As this blog makes clear, I'm usually more likely to be attracted by records involving German orchestration and unfulfilled longing than by cheerfully-titled... Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA