Bryce Westervelt's Blog
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
Everyone has an opinion, right? I know that I sure do, especially when it comes to my particular taste in music. I would like to invite you (and your friends, and your friends' friends, and the guy at the supermarket ... you catch my drift here) to get involved in our discussion section of the opera page. On the discussion page you will find a place to make your opinion heard, loudly and proudly!
One thing that I find really cool about the discussions forum here at suite101 is that you can start your own string, and in most cases, the feature writer will comment back to you. It is like our own little opera opinion world. You don't have to be the most knowledgeable opera goer to have an opinion about what you like and don't like. You just have to be willing to share your opinion, and make it count! (and don't forget to subscribe to the discussion board RSS feed so that you can see what others are saying about opera!)
These are the current discussions in opera:
Greatest Mezzo (1)
Greatest Soprano (4)
Greatest Tenor (3)
Donizetti Opera (3)
Gay Marriages (3)
US Opera Company Directory (3)
Stimme or Kunst (2)
Free (or Cheap) Opera Tickets (1)
Favorite Opera (12)
Opera Etiquette (8)
Voice Types (13)
Favorite Singer (5)
La Traviata- 101 (1)
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
The premise is pretty simple, really:
Boy meets girl.
Boy marries girl.
Girl gets bitten by snake.
Girl gets dragged off to Hell as she dies from snake bite.
Boy, so sad, and still in-love with girl mourns the loss.
Boy decides to go rescue girl from Hell.
Boy sings some songs, the gods feel sorry for him.
The let him take the girl back to earth...
...under one condition...
Boy can't talk to, or even look at, the Girl on the trip back home.
The Girl sees the boy's silence as "ignoring her" and she starts to nag.
Boy turns to Girl to tell her to stop nagging.
Ooops! She dies instantly.
Boy begins to mourn the loss of the girl, again.
One of Boy's family, or a god, or someone else feels sorry for the Boy again...
...and gives him back the girl.
Love triumphs over Death.
The End.
Sure sounds like an opera plot to me! Several composers have set the basic Orpheus Myth to music, starting with Claudio Monteverdi and running through present day modern composers such as Phillip Glass. Today, we look at 3 of these different Orpheus settings and let you decide which you like better.
I invite you to look at the settings by: Monteverdi, Gluck, and Offenbach. Monteverdi's very serious straight forward telling of the story, Gluck's more dramatic approach to the emotional context of the story, and Offenbach's tongue-in-cheek parody of the story all approach the myth in a different way, but all have their place in the great history of Opera.
When you're done reading up on the articles, make sure you take this poll about which story you would prefer to see!
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
As I have been reading several different opera music message boards over the last few weeks, one common thread that I have been seeing ring through is a total disconnect between older opera fans and an attempt by many opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, to find a younger audience. I believe that it is imperative, for the health and continuation of the art form to try and gain a larger, and frankly younger, audience. How do you do this though? How do you make opera music more relevant to the general public and this younger generation? How do you do this without "ruining the art" that the older generation has come to love?
One thing that I have noticed is that many companies are doing a great job of trying new things to make opera a more social event for the audience. The formation of opera clubs, such as Cincinnati Opera's Center Stage (which is a group for young professionals under the age of 40) is one such way. If you can make a night out at the opera a fun, romantic date evening where "everyone is doing it," then you will tend to gain a more of audience.
Peter Gelb and the Metropolitan Opera are trying to bring opera to the general public, with great success, through the use of live broadcasts in HD at local movie theaters. This is a much less expensive, but equally effective way of letting the Met travel, as they used to on tours generations ago. I believe that one of the reasons that opera music was as popular to an older crowd is that people were brought up going to live theater when it came to town. Now we have movies or live Broadway shows. It is expensive to tour an opera, (the reasons are far too many to go into here) so how do we bring the music and world-class singers to a town near you? Why not broadcast into a movie theater, using technology that we didn't have only a couple of years ago. Opera is now cutting edge, and as the popularity of the Met's HD broadcasts increases, so to will the audience get younger. A $20 ticket plus some popcorn and a soda is much less expensive than a great orchestra seat at the Metropolitan and many other opera companies, making it a viable experience for younger adults, especially if they want to bring their families.
I know that some people would think that a younger generation has the attention span of a gnat. I have even heard the 20 or 30-somethings referred to as the "ADD generation." I also know that change is sometimes difficult to swallow, but to keep the music coming for generations into the future, you have to cultivate a younger audience. If this comes from exclusive "young adult opera guilds" and "HD movie broadcasts," then the opera is trying to get ahead of the curve, and get out from behind the 8-ball. What will they think of next?
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
The following is a list of the top 10 Opera music articles for the month of March, 2007 at Suite101. These are ranked by most page views, including those found though nearly 3500 Google searches for the month. Listed are the opera music article title, link, and total number of page views. Please visit the article archives for other recent, exciting opera music articles.
- Barber of Seville – 101 407 page views
- Metropolitan Opera in HD; 397 page views
- Carmen – 101 ; 341 page views
- The Pearl Fishers – 101 ; 326 page views
- Free Opera Scores; 274 page views
- Opera Etiquette – 101 ; 189 page views
- Warming-Up and My Voice Type; 173 page views
- Top Tenor Jokes; 124 page views
- Top Soprano Jokes; 114 page views
- La Fleur Que Tu M’avais Jetée -101 ; 109 page views
Below are the February's Opera Music top articles:
- Opera Etiquette – 101 (January 25, 2007) 189 page views
- Carmen – 101 (January 31, 2007) 171 page views
- Barber of Seville – 101 (January 22, 2007) 161 page views
- La Traviata – 101 (January 20, 2007) 107 page views
- Verdi Classic to Open Lyric Season (January 19, 2007) 96 page views
- Demystifying Opera – 101 (January 22, 2007) 91 page views
- The Pearl Fishers – 101 (February 2, 2007) 90 page views
- World Premiere at Calgary Opera (January 25, 2007) 75 page views
- Christa Ludwig Profiled (February 3, 2007) 47 page views
- Votre toast, je peux le rendre – 101 (February 27, 2007) 41 page views
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
Ticket prices can be a real deterrent to actually going to see an opera. As production costs go up, so do ticket prices. With this, coupled with an aging audience, opera companies are challenged to grow their audience while also trying to attract a younger audience that will sustain them into the next generation. I have given this much thought while beginning to put together a new and useful opera company directory.
In doing my research for the directory, a couple of patterns have emerged, which make me very excited about the future of opera. Many of the opera companies are offering very inexpensive, if not free, tickets to dress rehearsals. I believe this is an attempt to introduce classical music to our youth. In an age, where many school districts are cutting arts education budgets, I find that it is vitally important that the arts organizations in the community reach out to enrich our communities. There are also groups being formed that encourage young professionals to attend more opera. Perhaps, by making opera “cool social event” to the 20 and 30-something crowd, they will gain an appreciation for the art, and in doing so will be more apt to take their children to see a show down the road.
I would invite you to take a look at how you can go to the opera for cheap, and perhaps grab a kid and go. You never know, he or she might actually like it!
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
The first 7 of what I hope will be many more opera company profiles are up and posted. These profiles are a quick reference guide for each company, their current and upcoming seasons, ticket information, and some basic facts about the company. I hope that you find these, and those to come, helpful.
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
Is Opera in the movie theaters a good thing? The Metropolitan Opera is increasing the number of televised live performances to movie theaters from 6 to 8 in their 2007/08 season. Is this good for the opera world, or are we just over comercializing the artform?
Personally, the perspective of a singer, this is actually great for the artform. Many people might say that opera is a dying art, only for old people and rich people. I think that what the Met is doing, by bringing opera to the masses is actually similar to what Broadway has been doing for years, and replaces what it lost when the Met stopped touring. It is building a larger audience thus making it more accessible to everyone.
When you tell someone you are going on vacation to New York City, you are usually asked, “What are you going to see on Broadway?” Every major city and many smaller ones are visited by Broadway touring companies. Touring is for opera is often more expensive and more difficult than a Broadway show, however, since you have to move a large orchestra, singers, sets, etc. An added problem is time off for the cast. For singers to remain in prime vocal health, many of the larger roles require time for vocal rest between performances, making opera less cost effective. While a Broadway show that can have 7 or 8 performances in a week, often the opera at most can have 3 or 4.
With today’s video and audio capabilities, however, we can now bring the opera to a larger audience, at a reasonable price. No, it is not the same as sitting in a live performance, but with the video technology, you are actually “closer to the action” than you would be if you were sitting in the front row at the Met. Furthermore, in bringing the opera to the big screen, it peaks the interest of the watcher to check out their own local companies, and perhaps sells more tickets for the local theater. More tickets sold at the local theater, more money in donations and gifts equals more shows at the local theater, with better quality production and singing, which means more jobs for singers. It is a win/win for everyone involved, and it keeps the artform alive!
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
The following is a list of the top 10 Opera articles for the month of February, 2007 at Suite101. These are ranked by most page views, including those found though nearly 1000 Google searches for the month. Listed are the article title and link, date of original publication and total number of page views. Please visit the article archives for other recent, exciting articles.
- Opera Etiquette – 101 (January 25, 2007) 189 page views
- Carmen – 101 (January 31, 2007) 171 page views
- Barber of Seville – 101 (January 22, 2007) 161 page views
- La Traviata – 101 (January 20, 2007) 107 page views
- Verdi Classic to Open Lyric Season (January 19, 2007) 96 page views
- Demystifying Opera – 101 (January 22, 2007) 91 page views
- The Pearl Fishers – 101 (February 2, 2007) 90 page views
- World Premiere at Calgary Opera (January 25, 2007) 75 page views
- Christa Ludwig Profiled (February 3, 2007) 47 page views
- Votre toast, je peux le rendre – 101 (February 27, 2007) 41 page views
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
I have been on the road the majority of the last three weeks, with concerts in New York, Oklahoma, and South Florida. One thing that I have learned from personal experience is that winter travel and singing work against each other. The first 11 days I spent in New York City singing and studying at the historic Players in Gramercy Park as part of Sherrill Milnes’ V.O.I.C.Experience foundation. The weather in New York the week that I was there was particularly cold and dry, even by February standards.
While a part of this program, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture by Dr. Scott Kesler, a leading E.N.T. specialist dealing with singers. It was a great check-up about hydration techniques, rest, travel, airplanes, reflux, and other things that singers have to deal with to be able to stay in peak form while on the road. One thing that I was dealing with while in New York, and continued in Oklahoma, was my nasal and sinus passages were so dried out that it was causing nosebleeds. When you are in older buildings, like my hotel or the historic Players, you have to deal with dry, irradiated heat. Steaming, over-hydration, and irrigation (with a spray like Simple-Saline) helped me through the dryness and the subsequent nosebleeds.
Similarly, after I returned to Florida, the weather here changed to warmer than normal. I went from 10-12 degrees up north to near 80 in Florida with a heavy dose of tree pollen. With severe sinus and chest congestion, I was contracted to sing a performance in Fort Myers. I worked for nearly 8 hours over 2 ½ days to clear the congestion using a variety steaming techniques, hydration, and non-drying decongestants such as Mucinex. Eight hours for 5 minutes of singing? It is part of the job, and the audience deserves my hard work!
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
My two-week absence from suite101 was not by design, but I believe that I will be able to share with you all some of my experiences of my own professional travels. I was privileged to spend 10 days at the historic Players in New York, working with opera legend Sherrill Milnes, among others. I was also had the unique opportunity to share a stage with jazz legend Dave Brubeck on concert that included one of his sacred choral works.
While in New York, I was able to sit down over four days and have private listening sessions with Norman White, who is the man behind Nimbus Records. He has inspired me to do more listening to historic recordings, so as I continue my personal studies, I hope to share with you some of what I have gleaned from these recordings and open your ears to some of the great artists of the past. I was able to work and chat with director Fabrizio Melano and look at the drama behind the music of opera. Melano, in his decades of directing at the Met and around the world, has worked with many of the greatest singers of the past and current generations, including Callas.
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
2-time Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Gian Carlo Menotti, died today in a hospital in Monaco. Peter Gelb, general manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, told the Associated Press: "Gian Carlo Menotti introduced a generation of Americans to opera. He was one of America's greatest composers."
Menotti was the founder of both the Spoleto festivals in Italy and the United States. As an opera composer, Menotti was well known for works such as Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Consul, and The Saint of Bleecker Street. Menotti’s works also include several ballets, chamber works, and art songs. He also was worked with American Composer, Samuel Barber, both in composition of ballet music for one of his operas, but as a librettist.
Born in 1911 in Italy, he began his musical training at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, and then continued his formal musical training at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. In 1984 he was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts, and was named Musical America’s Musician of the Year in 1991.
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
So you have never been to the opera, or perhaps it has been a long time since you have been to the opera. I have written two new articles that are the beginning of a series on Opera – 101 here at opera.suite101.com.
The first of these articles is Opera Demystified - 101. In Opera Demystified where we try to look at the very basics of what opera is. It is a brief introduction to the art form. The second of these articles is Opera Etiquette – 101. Here we discuss what you should, and in some cases shouldn’t, do during your first trip to the opera. I hope that you enjoy both of these as a leaping off point for those of you new to opera, or as a refresher course for those of you who consider yourselves “opera aficionados.”
I have also added a brief article about the world premiere of a new opera, Frobisher, which is set to open this weekend in Calgary. It has been co-commissioned by Opera Calgary and the Banff Centre.
I would invite you to subscribe to the articles and blog feeds, so you can be on top of the latest information and additions to the page. Please check back often, as I will be adding to the Opera – 101 series. If you have any topics that you would like to cover, please email me! I would also invite you to join in the discussions on the opera discussion board. These discussions are only as good as the people that contribute to them.
Posted by Bryce Westervelt
Back in October I was in Milwaukee, singing Haydn’s Creation with the Bel Canto Chorus. I realized that the zipper on my winter coat would not zip. It was only in the 40's and 50's when I was there, so it was really not much of a problem. The real problem is that I am heading to New York in 13 days to sing and then I fly from there to Oklahoma City on the 15th for 3 more days including a concert with Dave Brubeck. Let's just say, New York is due for snow and Oklahoma City has had crazy weather the last 2 weeks. I need to take no chances on freezing my butt off, not that my blood has thinned that much being down here. I just can't afford to be walking around between tall buildings in NYC without a functional winter coat.
I took the coat over to a local Greek lady who does alterations. (for those of you who don’t know me, I’m ½ Greek and thus supporting the local economy) She had stepped out, but there was an older gentleman "watching the store" for her for a couple of minutes. He sees me with the winter coat and proceeds to ask me where I am going with it. It is nearly 80 degrees here today, so you must have a real purpose to carry a winter coat. I explained that I was going on a trip to New York then Oklahoma in a couple of weeks and I needed to get the zipper fixed.
"So what you do in the New York" (ok so I'm typing in a Greek accent)
"I'm going to New York to sing."
"What dyou sing? What kin-ada-music?"
"I sing opera."
His eyes light up!
"Oh, you gonna sing at da Met? I love Maria Callas! She is my favorite opera singer! Have you heard of her? I used to have recording of Maria, but I lose it!"
he continues...
"I no like that young Italian tenor, you know his name? Fat Italian tenor!"
"Luciano Pavarotti???"
"Ah yes...I no like Pavarotti.......Lanza...Mario Lanza... I love Lanza...and Callas. Lanza, he sing beautiful music. Lanza good actor in movies."
Just then, the lady walks in and the opera conversation is over, but it certainly made me think. Whether or not you are a Callas fan, one thing is certain, she could act. She is especially remarkable in her acting during a time of opera when many of her contemporaries just stood there and sang. One of those people that has been know to just stand there and sing is Pavarotti. For the gentleman in the store, it was not just a beautiful voice that made the opera star, but also their skill at acting, whether it was on the big screen or on stage.
The best singers are not always the best actors, and the best actors are not always the best singers. When you do get lucky enough to behold someone who has both gifts at once, you have seen something special.