Biographies
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Alexander Davidov
Born Israel Levinson on 4 September 1872 in Poltawa, Russian tenor Alexander Davydov had some vocal lessons c1890, but his debut at Dnepropetrovsk was so heavily criticized that he moved into smaller roles. He moved to the Maryinski Theatre in 1900 where he sang the …
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Fritzi Jokl
Fritzi Jokl was born in Vienna on March 23rd 1895. She studied with Mrs. Rosenthal-Ranner and made her debut in 1917 at the Opera House of Frankfurt am Main where she continued to appear regularly until 1922. Engagements at the Landestheater of Darmstadt (1922-23), the …
Articles, Interviews & Memories
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Reflections on the greatness of Enrico Caruso
Enrico Caruso was a unique great tenor, without any doubt. I included him in my personal choice of the XX century “avant guard” group of great tenors. The group comprises the Italians Caruso,
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Sitting Down with tenor Javier Camarena
Tenor Javier Camarena is appearing in Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers at the Los Angeles Opera from October 7 to October 28. Camarena sings the tenor role of Nadir, Nino Machaidze sings Leila, Alfredo Daza is Zurga, and Nicholas Brownlee is Nourabad. Plácido Domingo and …
Focus Feature
Five Operas Worth Re-Discovering
Quality certainly isn’t the only criterion that decides whether a work of art survives or not: luck and a few other rather aleatory factors seem to play a major role. In today’s standard repertoires we can find works that should not have survived the decade …
Selected Blog posts
Corelli & Lauri-Volpi
Corelli was present, together with Martinelli, at the unveiling of a head statue of Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (LV) at the Met hallway in 1965. Why was …
Meet You at the Met: My Fall Met Highlights
Rather than completely anticipate the Metropolitan Opera’s 2013/2014 offerings and give an in-depth analysis of the entire season, I thought I’d break up my picks …
Two Boys, Two Generations
Opera is no stranger to rivalry. In fact, we crave it. Want proof? Opera audiences have split into factions regarding their favorite divas since Handel’s …
Why aren’t they singing?
Take a look at this triumphal march from a production of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera. Now imagine trying to stage that using only the salaried chorus …
Musical theatre as an opera singer
Some opera singers and aficionados feel a sort of intellectual superiority to musical theatre. My opera history classes and online opera communities are the places …
An opera ‘urban dictionary,’ part 2 (singer nicknames)
As a follow-up on last week’s post, I present to you the second part of my opera ‘urban dictionary.’ This part focuses on singer nicknames …
Hit Me with a.. High Note?
“Am I afraid of high notes? Of course I am afraid. What sane man is not?” – Luciano Pavarotti Among casual listeners, opera aficionados, avocational …
Auditions: what not to say
It’s audition season at Cambridge again, which means far too much sitting around and nervously chatting with my fellow actors and singers. Some of the …
No Mics Attached
When I talk to people who don’t know anything about opera, the thing that seems to shock them the most is the fact that no …
