Singingscholar

LATEST ARTICLES ( 293 )

• Brahms: Chants D'amour / Liebeslieder

  

  Summer weather is beginning to transition into that of fall, which means it's time for me to transition from French to German art songs as my default listening... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Embarras De Richesses: Frederica Von Stade Collection

  

  It is both a privilege and a considerable challenge to review the recently-released collection of Frederica von Stade's complete Columbia recital recordings.... Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Carmen: NYCO Woos an Audience

  

  Bryant Park, now featuring opera New York is a city I still think of as home, and not least among the many things I miss about it is its operatic ecosystem. Read more

  Posted on 30 July 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Interval Adventures: L'Opéra Garnier

  

  Palais Garnier Academic travels have taken me to Paris; this loveliest of cities doesn't currently have opera to see, but it does, of course, have what may be... Read more

  Posted on 21 July 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Madness in Great Ones: Bryn Terfel's Boris at the Proms

  

  Terfel as Tsar: Boris Godunov at the London Proms It was due to a timely Tweet from the Royal Opera that I found myself, on Saturday night, happily making part... Read more

  Posted on 18 July 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• In Parenthesis: Remembering WWI at the Royal Opera House

  

  Andrew Bidlack as Private John Ball, on sentry dutyPhoto (c) Bill Cooper/WNO July 1 marked the centenary of the beginning of the Somme: one name to cover... Read more

  Posted on 02 July 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Opera in Prose (and Il Trovatore)

  

  The progress of my summer reading list has been somewhat slowed by academic responsibility (alas) but I am currently immersed in Alexander Chee's recent The... Read more

  Posted on 18 June 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Reading List: The Real Traviata

  

  René Weis' new monograph on Marie Duplessis makes big claims even before getting past the title page. Marie Duplessis, the charismatic and consumptive... Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Ein Köstlicher Abend: Der König Kandaules in Ghent

  

  Ghent's opera house I may not be able to travel (much) for opera, but when traveling, I do seek opera out. So, on April 16, I took myself to hear Zemlinsky's De... Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Sander & Sander: Die Schöne Müllerin

  

  Die böse/liebe Farbe Ah, spring. The drought of March is pierced to the root, and just as surely as folk long to go on pilgrimages, the thoughts of Lieder-lover... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Crossing Over: Sacred Music for the Agnostic

  

  Light and darkness (Edinburgh sunset, photo by me) The 40 days of Lent: season of prayer and fasting for adherents of Christianity, and of Requiems and... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Il Tempo Vola... Baciami! Manon Lescaut at the Met

  

  Thwarted lovers: Alagna and Opolais in Act III (Photo (c) Ken Howard/Met Opera) I got to see Tuesday night's performance of Manon Lescaut, and I'm very glad I... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Brief Notes on Beethoven in Boston

  

  While recently attending a conference, I took time off to attend a very alliterative concert. Harry Christophers helmed the Handel and Haydn Society in a concer... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• The Met in 2016-17: Tristan and Beyond

  

  I know, the announcement's old news by now. But because I have many and complicated feelings about the opera house I've so long called home, I'm writing about i... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Semi-Scholarly Summary: Verdi's Macbeth

  

  As an itinerant scholar, I've recently written a small piece about Verdi's Macbeth. The commissioning body doesn't know what it's unleashed. Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Far More Than Mediocre: Salieri's Les Danaides

  

  Look at that cover design! In some corner of my mind, Salieri will always be F. Murray Abraham. I can't help it. To be honest, this was one of the reasons that ... Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Seasonal Special: Advent

  

  Once again I find myself in the sweet spot of a target audience, this time as choral music aficionado and Liturgy Nerd. The commercial season of Christmas has... Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Late Romanticism in Lieder: Mahler Contemporaries

  

  Recording venue: St. Jacob the Greater, Jihlava A disc entitled Mahler Contemporaries is as a siren call to me. I am always fascinated by music that doesn't... Read more

  Posted on 02 December 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Medieval/modern Sunday Special: Responsio

  

  The Coronation of the Virgin, Rheims Cathedral As a medievalist and liturgy nerd with an active interest in new music, I feel that I am standing somewhere... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Sunday Special: Divine Redeemer

  

  Church of the Gesù, Milwaukee Any album covering Bach to the twentieth century can seem riskily ambitious. But Christine Brewer and Paul Jacobs offer an engagin... Read more

  Posted on 15 November 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA