Singingscholar

LATEST ARTICLES ( 293 )

• Jedermann: Sibelius Meditates on Mortality

  

  Gentle Readers, I suggest that we banish the phrase "hidden masterpiece." Agreed? Good. Leaving that meaningless cliché aside, I can go on to happily discuss wh... Read more

  Posted on 03 November 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Love, Loss, and the Sea: Soile Isokoski Sings French Art Song

  

  Soile Isokoski's album of lush French art songs resists easy classification. It doesn't have a title; its design doesn't seem to strive for a particular... Read more

  Posted on 05 October 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Liedsommer in Autumn: Michaela Schuster's Morgen!

  

  Michaela Schuster, photographed by Nikola Stege I could just tell you that this CD is endorsed by Brigitte Fassbaender and have done, Gentle Readers. Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• (Un)Orthodox Transcendence: Rachmaninov's Chrysostom Liturgy

  

  Nave of the Auenkirche, Berlin-Wilmersdorf As a self-described liturgy nerd, I jumped at the chance to review a new recording of Rachmaninov's setting of the... Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Jonas Kaufmann's Puccini Album: Making the Familiar Unexpected

  

  Does the world really need another Puccini album? Probably not. But opera-lovers as a group are very ready to cry, with Lear, "O reason not the need! Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Liederabend Special: Thomas Quasthoff

  After pondering Lieder puns for far too long, Gentle Readers, I present to you the first post in a planned series exploring my library of art song discs, and th... Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Chi Al Par Di Me Contenta? OperaRox Figaro

  

  Happy Families? Figaro's matrimonial entanglements (L-R: Miller, Maliakel, Smith, de Bettancourt) The start of the academic year precipitated another Blogging... Read more

  Posted on 08 September 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Listening Library: Turandot

  

  There's nothing like blasting an opera on the stereo to help oneself settle into a new place; this is a credo by which I proudly live. And I have found it to... Read more

  Posted on 24 August 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Opera Obsession: the Wilderness Year(s?)

  Brace yourselves, Gentle Readers: this post may be answering a question nobody is asking. The question is: what is happening to this blog? Read more

  Posted on 08 August 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Proms Postcard: a Belated Beethoven Blog Post

  

  My summer, as you may have suspected, Gentle Readers, was mostly spent in libraries, pursuing the Ph.D. which seems to take up more time the further it... Read more

  Posted on 07 August 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Reading List: Fidelio, the Novel

  It is a matter of record that I have a particular enthusiasm for Beethoven's Fidelio. I love the orchestration, and how it changes color to reflect the differen... Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Paisiello's Barber with the OSO: Figaro at the Fabbri Mansion

  

  Editorial note: please welcome Opera Obsession's first guest blogger: none other than Alex, my Musicologist Roommate, covering New York opera happenings in my... Read more

  Posted on 18 June 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Tristan: an Appreciation

  

  Twitter informed me this morning that it was the 150th anniversary of Tristan und Isolde's postponed and scandalous premiere. I felt impelled to pour out some o... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• La Traviata with the Twentieth-Century Blues

  It was on an impulse that I went to see the first of two Oxford performances of Opera Up Close's presentation of La Traviata. Having spotted a poster and... Read more

  Posted on 05 June 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Reading List: Master Singers

  I jumped at the change to review the recent volume: Master Singers: Advice from the Stage. The structured collection of commentary from professionals at... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Don Carlo: Il Di Tremendo

  

  On Saturday, I went to the last performance of Don Carlo, and what will be my last performance of the Met season. It was an evening both grand and thrilling,... Read more

  Posted on 28 April 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Blogging Backlog: Cav & Pag at the Met

  

  The opera season and the academic year are hurtling towards their respective conclusions, and so, although I got to see David McVicar's new production of the... Read more

  Posted on 27 April 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• The Great Globe Itself: The Tempest Songbook

  

  Photo (c) Gotham Chamber Opera Gotham Chamber Opera's latest project, The Tempest Songbook, continues to explore the possibilities of unconventional spaces and... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Manon: C'est La L'histoire...

  

  Rooting for these crazy kids: Manon and her Chevalier, Act IPhoto (c) Ken Howard/Met Opera I attended the opening performance of this season's Manon at the... Read more

  Posted on 10 March 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Blogging Backlog: Les Contes d'Hoffmann

  

  Hoffmann (Grigolo), struggling with writing and the human condition. Photo (c) Met Opera Gentle Readers, I am the most delinquent of bloggers. Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2015 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA