OperaVision OperaVision

This month, we’re joined by young artists Chiara Boccabella and Francesco Leone in the run up to the Accademia Rossiniana Alberto Zedda this summer.  They share thoughts on preparing for auditions (the key lies in character!), and how exactly to bring lightness and joy to singing Rossini so that it feels (almost) effortless.
Watch now on OperaVision
Opera for Peace documentary with Leonardo Sanchez
Artifacts Assembly from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts
Documentary from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for the Paul Hindemith Orchestra Academy
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly
Music Extracts all from Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims at the Accademia Rossiniana 2023
Introduction & closing: Il Viaggio a Reims (opening)
Con sì dotta il nobil gente, di fanal che serve al mondo with mezzo-soprano Seray Pinar (Cast B)
Sì, di matti una gran gabbia with baritone Andrés Cascante (Cast A)

This month, we are back with our emerging artists from Palau de les Arts in Valencia, where we discover how steady and slow is the key to vocal progression, how going beyond your comfort zone is necessary when hustling for work, and which key elements to take from a programme into the professional world. Mezzo-soprano Laura Orueta takes her first professional steps and soprano Iria Goti looks ahead to her final stretch in Valencia and life beyond. 
 
Music 
Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture
I Hate Music; Tavouk Guenksis; Piccola Serenata de Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) with Iria Goti, soprano, José Alberto Sancho, piano
Enllà de l’origen (from Els asfòdels) by Matilde Salvador (1918-2007)
Laura Orueta, mezzo soprano, José Alberto Sancho, piano
 
Dame, dame la noche del desnudo by Juan Durán (1960) with Marcelo Solís, baritone, José Alberto Sancho, piano
 
Watch now on OperaVision
Artifacts Assembly from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg from Teatro Real, Madrid
Documentary from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for the Paul Hindemith Orchestra Academy
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly

This month, we’re back at Oper Frankfurt following up with our four young artists, where juggling roles and dealing with vocal fatigue are part of life at the height of a busy season.  Our singers share stories of setting boundaries, juggling repertoire, and how sometimes saying no is essential to protecting both vocal and mental health. Featuring sopranos Nombulelo Yende and Clara Hyoyoung Kim, mezzo-soprano Helene Feldbauer, and baritone Jarrett Porter.
 
Watch now on Opera Vision
Artifacts Assembly from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts
Documentary from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for the Paul Hindemith Orchestra Academy
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly
Music extracts
Norma (Bellini) aria Norma: Casta diva, Nombulelo Yende, Moniuszko Vocal Competition
Winterreise (Schubert) Gute Nacht Jarrett Porter at the Oper Frankfurt Soirée. Pianist Felice Venanzoni 
Ständchen (Schubert) Zögend, leise Helene Feldbauer at the Oper Frankfurt Soiree. Pianist Yuna Saito

In an industry where self-doubt can be paralysing, Opera for Peace Ambassador and soprano Ailyn Perez shares her techniques for helping emerging artists to trust their voices, how to navigate away from the feeling of continually being judged, and she acknowledges her own vulnerability when approaching a new piece – a reminder that even those at the pinnacle of their careers experience moments of uncertainty.  Meanwhile, young tenor Matteo Ivan Rašic questions whether as a singer you need to be self-centred, and reflects on the significance of success as the son of a refugee family, giving a personal perspective on the stakes involved in pursuing a career in the arts.
 
Watch now on Opera Vision
Artifacts Assembly from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts
Documentary from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for the Paul Hindemith Orchestra Academy
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly
Music extracts
Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture
Donizetti ‘Quel guardo il cavaliere’ from Don Pasquale, with soprano Nanami Yoneda and pianist Kamal Khan
Mozart ‘Se vuol ballare’ from Le Nozze di Figaro, with bass baritone Ihor Mostovai and pianist Carmen Santoro
Charpentier ‘Depuis le jour’ from Louise, with soprano Oksana Sliubyk and pianist Kamal Khan

With its extensive international travel, sets and costumes created for individual productions, many of which are then disposed of, opera does not have a reputation for being particularly green. However, companies and individuals are now making great strides towards sustainability in the face of the climate crisis and are continuing to find ways to make spaces and performances more environmentally sustainable.
In this episode we find out how activists and individuals are challenging the status quo - working towards sustainability in the face of the climate crisis.  Nina speaks to Sebastien Gueze, the French Tenor and activist responsible for publishing the BIOPERA essay, who now also works as a sustainability consultant for the French government, and Italian Stage Director Ilaria Lanzino who has directed a pilot CO2 neutral production at Oper Leipzig.
 
Watch now on Opera Vision
Artifacts Assembly from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts
Documentary from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for the Paul Hindemith Orchestra Academy
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly
 
Eco entertainment
Masque of Might from Opera North
 
Music extracts
Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture
Massenet ‘Alors c'est bien ici’ from Werther with tenor Mario Chang and the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier
Sivan Eldar ‘Wood behaviour’ from Like Flesh (words: Cordelia Lynn) with soprano Juliette Allen and baritone William Dazeley from Opéra de Lille. Watch flashback here
Handel ‘Verdi prati’ from Alcina with countertenor Patrick Terry at Opera North. Watch flashback here
Find out more about Ilaria Lanzino here
Find out more about Sebastien Guèze here
Access Sebastien’s BIOPÉRA Essay (in French) here
Find out about Opera North’s Green Season here

For many artists there are barriers that go much deeper than the gender binary, but how can we ensure people of every gender have real access and are genuinely welcomed in the opera world?  Trailblazing American baritone Lucia Lucas reveals the highs and lows of inhabiting a role close to her heart; Lili Elbe at the Theater St. Gallen, about the eponymous painter who was the first person to have gender confirmation surgery in the 1930s.  Meanwhile, Spanish director, designer and visual artist Marta Pazos explores the world of intersexuality through her production of Alexina B at the Gran Teatre del Liceu In Barcelona; she shares how she brought the story of Herculine Barbin vividly to life.
 
Additional voiceovers by Celia Grau 
Translation supervised by Joan Soley 
 
View the OperaVision website here
 
Watch now on Opera Vision
Lili Elbe by composer Tobias Picker & librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman
Oper Frankfurt documentary From Studio to Stage
Il Viaggio a Reims (Rossini), Rossini Opera Festival Accademia Rossiniana
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly
 
More here about Alexina B  



Music extracts
Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture
All other extracts from Lili Elbe Theater St. Gallen featuring baritone Lucia Lucas, soprano Sylvia D’Eramo and bass Msimelelo Mbali