Thank you to everyone who came out for “Explore the Voice” at the UW Hospital and Clinics on Saturday, May 16, and a big thank you to the UW Voice and Swallow Clinic staff for all of their organizational efforts! The workshops were full and there was a great feeling in the air throughout the event. I think the content of the seminars and workshops was balanced really well between practical health management of the voice and career and vocal advice for singers.
From the Madison Opera team, we had General Director Allan Naplan presenting on how an opera company works, and Chorus Master Andrew Abrams discussing how to train for a career as a crossover artist in both opera and musical theater. There was a big mix of music educators, voice students, casual singers, and occupational voice users in attendance, and it seems there is great interest for a similar, FREE symposium next year.
Only Alex Ross could pull it off so eloquently:
Opera was, in effect, born twice. Its first coming was during the last decade of the sixteenth century, when humanist musicians and poets at the court of the Medici, in Florence, began to present a new kind of sung drama. The inaugural operas had impeccably high-minded subjects—Daphne changing into a laurel tree, Orpheus descending into Hades with his lyre—and were hyper-elegant in execution. Then, in 1637, a travelling troupe set off a fad for opera in the republic of Venice, and the art underwent a mutation. The season took place during Carnival, the time of dissolution and self-reinvention. Melodrama, bawdy humor, and disorienting collisions of high and low permeated the form. Mythological subjects took on a modern edge; castrato singers flamboyantly re-imagined classical heroes; star divas enacted scenes of madness and lament. A paying public showed lusty approval. For the rest of the century, up to five theatres operated in Venice at the same time, drawing an audience that included not only the patrician class but also courtesans, tourists, and a smattering of ordinary people. Opera acquired the intricate mixture of elements—élitist, populist, dignified, demented—which defines the genre to this day.
Read the full article–“Unsung: Recovering the operas of Francesco Cavalli”–in The New Yorker.
The standing ovation was almost instantaneous last night; don’t miss tomorrow’s final performance of Faust!
Lindsay Christians of 77 Square raves, “Madison Opera has produced a fine version of the classic, one anchored by Andy Abrams’ excellent chorus and energized by the superior singing of the leads.” And check out the fantastic review on Dane101, Dane County’s leading blog collective. “Madison Opera’s Faust is the best thing I’ve seen on a Wisconsin stage… Faust brings world class star power to Madison from its lead performers to the exquisite set.”
Faust opens tonight, and I think Madison audiences are in for a memorable performance. Here are some links to help you get ready!
- Stream Opera Up Close: The Faust Preview online, just click here to start.
- Listen to David Pittsinger’s interview on Wisconsin Public Radio.
- Read our educational guide to Faust, or peruse our collection of the best sources online
- Check out past posts here on The MadOpera Blog.
