In the final episode of this Next Generation series, we ask two experts working at Oper Frankfurt to share their understanding of the challenges facing young artists entering a programme. From the shock of that first time on the main stage, to finding a common language when it comes to technique, and finally allowing the personality to really shine through, Felice Venanzoni and Hedwig Fassbender offer candid advice on all aspects of nurturing operatic talent with sensitivity and respect.

Watch now on OperaVision

Opera for Peace documentary with Leonardo Sanchez

Artifacts Assembly from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts

Il Viaggio a Reims from Young Artists at the Rossini Opera Festival

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

Aquela Moça (Luís de Freitas Branco) mezzo soprano Claudia Ribas accompanied by Felice Venanzoni

La Traviata Addio bel passato with soprano Karolina Bengtsson accompanied by Yuna Saito

Rape of Lucretia (Britten) Give him this orchid with mezzo soporano Claudia Ribas accompanied by Yuna Saito

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

 

‘Classical opera has a racism problem’ ran a headline in the New York Times in 2019, one of many articles in recent years to discuss the subject. Racism is high on the list of issues the opera world is looking to tackle, and in this episode we’re joined by two artists from different sides of the Atlantic, exploring how they are striving to create an opera and classical music culture that better reflects the communities they serve.

View the OperaVision website here

Watch now on Opera Vision

Oper Frankfurt From Studio to Stage

Il Viaggio a Reims (Rossini), Rossini Opera Festival Accademia Rossiniana

Masterclass with Sarah Connolly

Music extracts

Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture

Verdi ‘Dance of the young Moorish slaves’ from Aida at Opera di Roma view flashback here

Mozart ‘Alles fühlt der Liebe Freuden’ from Die Zauberflöte at the Royal College of Music with tenor Dafydd Jones

Verdi ‘D’un uom che geme sotto il tuo disdegno’ from Otello at Poznań Opera with soprano Iwona Sobotka and tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones view performance here

Loki Karuna https://www.lokikaruna.com/

Pegasus Opera https://pegasusoperacompany.org/

‘Is opera the most misogynistic art form?’ asked Charlotte Higgins in The Guardian back in 2016, noting that the genre itself seems to devour women. In Classical Music Magazine in 2020, Becca Marriott argued that ‘Sexism is preventing women from forging a career in opera’. Over the course of the next episodes, we are looking at how voices in opera are calling for change to make it better for the next generation of operatic talent. In this episode, we investigate misogyny in opera both on the stage and behind the scenes, and investigate the lived experience of artists who are striving to make the opera world a place where everyone feels welcome, respected and safe.

 

View the OperaVision website here

Watch now on Opera Vision

Oper Frankfurt From Studio to Stage

Opera for Peace Masterclasses with Ailyn Perez & Brian Jagde

Il Viaggio a Reims (Rossini), Rossini Opera Festival Accademia Rossiniana

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World with Nombulelo Yende

Dana Lynne Varga www.danavarga.com

The Empowered Musician https://theempoweredmusician.com/

Mass Opera https://massopera.org/

Rosie Middleton https://rosiemiddleton.com/

Derri Joseph Lewis https://derrijosephlewis.com/

 

Music extracts

Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture

Bizet ‘L'amour est un oiseau rebelle’ (Habanera) from Carmen with mezzo-soprano Evgenia Asanova at the Staatsoper Hannover. Watch extract here

 

Massenet ‘Je marche sur tous les chemins’ from Manon with soprano Elsa Dreisig at the Hamburg State Opera. Watch extract here

 

Donizetti 'Regnava nel silenzio' from Lucia di Lammermoor with soprano Lisette Oropesa at the Teatro Real Madrid. Watch full extract here 

 

Opera has long been accused of elitism, racism and misogyny, and over the course of the next few episodes we are looking at how voices in opera are calling for change to make it better for all our young artists. We begin by looking at the representation of Asian culture on the operatic stage, and investigate the lived experience of artists who are striving to make the opera world a place where everyone feels welcome.

View the OperaVision website here

 

Watch now on Opera Vision

Oper Frankfurt From Studio to Stage

Opera for Peace Masterclasses with Ailyn Perez & Brian Jagde

Il Viaggio a Reims (Rossini), Rossini Opera Festival Accademia Rossiniana

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World with Nombulelo Yende

The Asian Opera Alliance https://asianoperaalliance.com/

Final Bow for Yellow Face https://www.yellowface.org/

 

Music extracts

Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture

Puccini Là, sui monti dell'Est from Turandot at the Finnish National Opera

Puccini Liù! Liù! Sorgi! Sorgi! From Turandot at the Grand Théâtre de Genève

Puccini Vogliatemi bene from Madama Butterfly, soprano Marina Rebeka at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía

Puccini Un bel dì, vedremo from Madama Butterfly, soprano Juliana Grigoryan at the 11th Moniuszko Vocal Competition