ArtCetera with John Sayers

During every opera performance the chance of something going wrong is always there,, and if it can, it often will. Sometimes minor, sometimes catastrophic. Here are some of the  things that happened to me. Disappearing knives, sword fights, guns, oh the guns, that don't go off and the backup fails also. And finally, the case of the missing shoes. Enjoy!

Taking a look at best singers at the turn of the century and now. A rare listen to the worst singer? in the world all time. And some interesting and not-so-interesting things about opera. Enjoy!

Top of my head includes some strange things I was asked to do as an opera singer. I also spend some moments reflecting on how I got to doing this podcast and my work with NPR on the Treasure Coast.
While the German and French Christmas Markets are closed this year due to the corona virus, I reminisce about some of the good times and, especially, the Gluehwein stands. 

Last week I took a look at French Cabaret. This episode,I do the same for German Kabarett with some interesting old Kabaret music, including, "When you have a mother-in-law."
I also take a look at some of my favorite German opera houses, including a harrowing trip into East Berlin for a successful/not successful audition at the Deutches Staats Oper. Enjoy!

November 19 is Beaujolais Nouveau Day in France and around the world. A votre sante. Cabarets in Paris have been around for decades, but the only original remaining in Paris, if not the world, is the au Lapin Agile (The Nimble Rabbit). Moulin Rouge is also there. It may be classier, but is it all show and no substance? Enjoy! 

Tosca has many stories, including the bouncing Tosca, the wayward firing squad and my own story of the tickling Tosca. My encounter with Tiefland, a popular opera in Germany by Eugene D"Albert, but not in USA.  And, how do you fight a duel without a sword? Find out as I relate my experience in a production of Carmen.

The Covid pandemic is affecting all performing arts causing shutdowns, postponements and outright closures. Opera, Broadway, symphonies both in the big cities and regional are being forced to shut their doors. Will they ever open again? The Angry Tenor takes a look at the scene and what you can expect.

Politics has affected the arts since the beginning of musical understanding. Both Verdi and Mozart had run-ins with censors and politicians. Verdi's Masked Ball being a prime example. But the NEA in this country, part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society has been attacked repeatedly by republican politicians who, I guess, could not understand,  nor appreciate, music, art, theater and opera enough to want to help struggling artists and arts organizations . The Met's Klinghoffer, banning travel by Paul Robeson, and the fight against reading programs for the blind are prime examples of what they would de-fund. Trump may be the worst, trying to ban all funding for the NEA over the past three years. This makes me angry!

My first opera in Germany was MacDuff in Verdi's Macbeth which I had to learn in four days. Also, a profile of my voice teacher and Toscanni's favorite contralto, Sonia Essin. Enjoy!

After auditioning for Tito Capobianco in London, he casts me in the San Diego Verdi Festival's production of Nabucco. Trip to Mexico with Ezio Flagello and a look at the American baritone, Thomas Tipton.