Opera Music

One might wonder how an essentially "lyric coluratura" could pull this off, and it was one of the great deats of singing/acting in our experience.

Not just the voice..but the LOVE of the vocal line!!!!!!!!! Bless her memory!

May 15, 1929 is the birthday of this 'kid" who surely made so many opera lovers out of people,owing to her infectuous personality and he great voice and stage presence.

photo source On 22 May, Bayreuth Festspielhaus hosted a 200th birthday concert for Richard Wagner. Conducted by Christian Thielemann, the Festival orchestra were allowed out the pit for a rare onstage appearance. Soloists Eva-Maria Westbroek, Johan Botha and Kwangchul Youn performed the first act of Die Walküre, which was followed by extracts from Rienzi, Götterdämmerung and Die Meistersinger. Afterwards, various Wagners and Wagnerphiles gathered for dinner and a brief recital from Klaus Florian Vogt. If Arte works in your country, you can watch their broadcast. If not, take a look below:

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, GermanyMay 23, 2013DON GIOVANNIDramma giocoso in two actsMusic by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartLibretto by Lorenzo da PonteThomas Hengelbrock, Musical DirectionPhilipp Himmelmann, StagingFlorence von Gerkan, CostumesJohannes Leiacker, Stage DesignBalthasar-Neumann-ChoirBalthasar-Neumann-OrchestraJory Vinikour PianoAnna Netrebko, Donna AnnaErwin Schrott, Don GiovanniLuca Pisaroni, LeporelloMalena Ernman, Donna ElviraCharles Castronovo, Don OttavioKatija Dragojevic, ZerlinaJonathan Lemalu, MasettoMario Luperi, KomturPHOTOSDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: HerbertDon Giovanni, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 23. May 2013. Photo: Herbert

Samuel HasselhornAs we've stated numerous times, we love our reader submissions more than almost anything. In the international art of opera it is virtually impossible to follow thousands of gifted singers simultaneously. We consider our readers our barihunk scouts and you've delivered some of the best talent and eye candy to us over the years.The latest submission is German barihunk Samuel Hasselhorn who studied at the studied opera at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany. Since October 2012, Hasselhorn has honed his skills at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse in Paris.In 2010, he was awarded the Walter und Charlotte Hamel Stiftung Scholarship award at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin, one of the most prestigious national singing contests in Europe. He was also a finalist in the international Schubert Competition in Graz. In 2011, he became the first German singer to win the Gundlach-Musikpreis. Samuel Hasselhorn sings Storck, Wolf & Scubert at the Internationalen Wettbewerb für Liedkunst: In November 2011, Hasselhorn made his professional stage debut as Guglielmo in Mozarts Cosí fan tutte at the Hameln-Theatre in Germany. On May 12th, he made his debut at the international Händel-Festspiele in Göttingen with songs and arias by Händel, Lully, Vivaldi and Rameau.You can next see him in Paris, where he will join the Lazarus Quartet in music by Hugo Wolf and Arnold Schoenberg. Tickets are available online.

CLOSING DATE 26 JULY 2013 The search for the next BBC Young Musician has launched and for the first time the competition will also include a Jazz Award. The Jazz competition will see young hopefuls perform in two audition stages before the final on 8 March 2014, which will be held at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Applications for the Jazz Award will open on 1 August 2013 and the closing date is 18 October 2013. The format for the five classical competitions – Brass, Keyboard, Percussion, Strings and Woodwind – is the same as in previous years. Competitors will have to get through two audition stages before the category finals and semi-finals at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The final for the 2014 competition will be held in Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Applications are now open for the classical competition and the closing date is 26 July 2013. BBC Young Musician 2012 was won by cellist Laura van der Heijden who said: ‘BBC Young Musician has changed my life, me as a musician and as a person. It has given me the most unbelievable start to me career! Immediately after the final I started to have new expectations of myself.’ The final stages of the competition will broadcast on BBC Four and Radio 3. Audition information Regional auditions Cardiff: 23-27 Sept Manchester: 30 Sept – 4 Oct Newcastle Gateshead: 8 Oct Glasgow: 9-10 Oct Belfast: 11 Oct London: 14-18 Oct; 23-24 Oct Category auditions will take place at BBC Hoddinott Hall and Grace Williams Studio, Cardiff Bay. ~~ You can find all the information you need in the Entry Brochure, including eligibility requirements, instructions for all stages of the competition and the entry form itself. The closing date for entries is Friday 26th July 2013. Download the Entry Brochure for BBC Young Musician 2014  BBC Young Musician website. You can send or email your completed form with accompanying documents to: BBC Young Musician 2014, Cardiff, CF5 2YQ or young.musician@bbc.co.uk. ~~ Filed under: BBC, Young Musician

Jacques Imbrailo as Billy Budd (Photograph: Tristram Kenton)This summer Glyndebourne will be streaming six operas worldwide, three live from the festival and three recorded in previous seasons.The first opera to be streamed will be Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos on June 4th at 7:00pm GST. It will be followed by Verdi's Falstaff on June 21st at 1:30pm GST. Of interest to barihunk lovers is the July 12th broadcast of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro featuring Audun Iversen's Count and Vito Priante's Figaro from a 2012 performance. Also of interest will be Jacques Imbrailo as the title character in Britten's Billy Budd slated for broadcast on August 23rd. In between those two operas will be Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie on July 25th and Donizetti's Don Pasquale on August 6th. Visit the Glyndebourne website for more information.

Organizations far and wide — perhaps even yours — will compete intensely for workers who are adaptable, resourceful, and can quickly learn and apply new skills to a variety of challenges. Where can you find such workers? One answer runs counter to much conventional wisdom: Ask an artist.

Welcome to the world of small opera companies, where rising costs and diminished private and public support require a constant shifting of gears to stay viable. Some companies are reinventing themselves with complex business models. Others are sharing productions as a way to trim costs and increase production values. No matter what model these companies choose, however, they’re all chasing funds to sustain themselves.