Category: Opera
-
Tuesday found me dithering about going up to London. I know it is Bryn I thought but can I really sit in the Albert Hall in this temperature I asked myself and, yes I could and I did. But oh my goodness it was like a cauldron in there. Packed house, not sure how many…
-
Just posted on the Radio 3 'Genius of Mozart' project over on Random Music. Do pop over and take a look.
-
The lovely diva Dame Joan Sutherland has died and I am so sad to hear this news. Have written over on Random Music about this lovely lady so do please take a look. http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_music/2010/10/rip-dame-joan-sutherland.html
-
I love books which feature opera and recently I reviewed The Maestro's Voice by Roland Vernon which I found enthralling and it set me thinking about other books I have read in which opera plays a large part. I have to say that I cannot think of many, but I do remember reading the Mills…
-
Such a lot of reviews awaiting my attention and I seem to be finding my time so constrained at the moment with so much to do, being a grandmother is a fearful and a wonderful thing but all encompassing and tiring, so I am glad to be having a quiet few days to catch up…
-
Sorry everyone too hot to blog. Though I don't suffer from hay fever as badly as I used to, my eyes are still bad, itchy and sore and I have just spent the afternoon in my bedroom which is cool and shady. Fell fast asleep and just coming to now. Had planned all sorts of…
-
I love opera. To me it is the perfect art form, it has everything – drama, passion, glorious singing, acting, death, murder, vengeance, love, sacrifice – each opera usually has an amalgam of these properties and if you add to that singers on top form then the entire experience is simply sensational. Doesn't always happen…
-
I am not putting this post on Random Arts where it belongs because I am still building up visitors over there and I want this to be seen by as many as possible. This is Philip Langridge who died on Friday. An English tenor with one of those voices which are difficult to slot into…
-
New post up on Random Music. Do read – am trying to get the traffic up on this blog!
-
Because I love opera and have done all my life, Yale University Press very kindly sent me a copy of this book for me to review. Very much a 'newbie' as far as receiving books from this publishing house is concerned, but the thing that has struck me already is just how gorgeous these books…
-
A few weeks ago I ranted on Random about the fact that Juan Diego Florez had pulled out of the performance of the Barber of Seville for which I had tickets. I was livid and fired off a blistering email to Covent Garden and to my astonishment received a telephone call from them full of…
-
I have said before that it all depends on the performance on the night and it was true again in this year's final. I am putting my thoughts down here at 19:38 before the judges make a decision so I cannot pretend I knew who was going to win all along. You have to admire my honesty. Well, you…
-
Tonight's round illustrated perfectly the comment I made in my first post on this competition and what makes an artist stand out. Five singers tonight, all obviously good as they made it through to the 25 chosen contestants, and yet none of them set me on fire, had that X factor that is so important.…
-
This is a bi-annual competition and seems to come round quicker and quicker each time and it was with a sense of shock at how fast the months vanish that I picked up this week's copy of the Radio Times and saw it was back. When this competition started back in 1983 which, let's…
-
Was checking the Times on line this morning and this headline caught my eye and I flicked over to the article. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article6243600.ece Jose Carreras says he is now calling time on his operatic career as he finds the demands of performing on an opera stage too much for him now. My feeling was that he…
-
Some eighteen months ago, Bryn Terfel pulled out of his contracted performances of the Ring Cycle citing his son's injury, fractured, crushed fingers and decided he wanted to be with his family. A certain Rupert Christian, amongst others, berated him for his actions but while most critics were angry, they pulled back from saying what…
-
In recovery mode today after a wonderful evening. Allowed plenty of time yesterday afternoon to get on train and get to London and just as well as on arrival at Colchester station the dreaded words 'signal failure' were being bandied about. Still, it was ok in the end we arrived safely, had a meal at…
-
In a couple of weeks time I am off to the Royal Opera House to see Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman. This is one of my favourite operas and Offenbach’s only ‘grand’ opera as he is more famous for Orpheus in the Underworld, A night in Venice and lots of other light operettas. Hoffman is altogether…
-
Triumphal Scene from Aida – Arena de Verona
-
On the left Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder, on the right Rolando Villazon as Don Carlos, or is it the other way round??