Every opera singer has a dream of performing at the Metropolitan Opera in a leading role. The dream takes a lot of work and hours of rehearsing, practicing, auditioning and, in many ways, luck. But it also takes years of building an international career. For Amber Wagner 2017 marks her first big contract with the theater after making her debut {…}
It was March 31, 2017, one day before the infamous day where people play tricks on one another. Soprano Jennifer Rowley was getting some shuteye, her days consumed by the task of taking on Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa” at the Toledo opera. On that very night, she would be singing the first of two performances for the demanding work. The phone {…}
Anne Schwanewilms is no stranger to the opera world. She is one of the most in-demand sopranos in the lieder repertoire and she has specialized in the challenging work of Richard Strauss, performing in every major theater around the world. However, she has rarely appeared in the United States and since her debut at the Bayreuth, she has not returned. {…}
Russian-born Natasha Novitskaia is a mezzo-soprano who has excelled in such roles such as Dalila, Santuzza, Amneris, Azucena, Lyubasha among others. From an early age, Novitskaia received early training in singing and classical piano and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance at the Marylhurst University and a Master’s degree in Russian Literature from St. Petersburg University. Although she began {…}
Krassimira Stoyanova is not your typical diva. Nor has she managed to carve out a career with the “expected” working conditions for most singers of her caliber. Since her debut at the Sofia National Opera House in 1995, the Bulgarian soprano has become a famed interpreter of the Italian operatic repertoire, singing at all the greatest theaters in the world. Her {…}
During a conversation with OperaWire regarding her upcoming performances of “Madama Butterfly” at the Royal Opera House, soprano Ana María Martinez related a story regarding her deep connection with the work. She narrated how during her first production of the opera at the Houston Grand Opera in 2010, her son was around the same age as the title character’s child {…}
When she was a young girl, mezzo-soprano Annalisa Stroppa would come home from school to a healthy diet of “The Three Tenors” and Mario del Monaco. Her grandparents idolized these artists and quickly impregnated their granddaughter with an unshakeable passion for opera. “That’s when I discovered I had a special voice and from then on, there was no one stopping {…}
Most opera singers can’t wait to rush in and sing their dream roles. In fact, in today’s world, with the high demand for singers to mature at an earlier age, a lot of young singers start young and end young, the pressure simply too great to sustain a lasting and healthy career. Iwona Sobotka was privy to this scenario early {…}
David Portillo’s career at the Metropolitan Opera got off to an expected start. As a lyric tenor, he sang the lead role in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” an opera that he and most tenors of his FACH are quite familiar with. His debut was a huge success, the tenor earning rave reviews for his lush vocal quality and fearless {…}
The Wagner tenor is a rare breed, often defined by a thick and granular quality that can easily cut through the orchestra, all while singing the most difficult music in the operatic canon. When we think of Wagnerian voices, we think dark and heavy, not light and delicate. Unless of course, we are talking about Klaus Florian Vogt. Arguably the {…}
How do you maintain a dramatic soprano voice fresh? The answer isn’t always obvious for a singer of that voice type. These voices, prized for their sheer power and weight, often face the most difficult repertoire in the operatic canon, many of which can be damaging if sung too often. But for acclaimed Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, who sings Beethoven’s {…}