Tag: Opera

  • Opera in education

    I felt hugely lucky to be part of the development of Royal Opera House’s Create and Sing. I was a few years into my own singing lessons and but virtue of these lessons being with the tenor Ian Caley operatic arias were part of my vocal diet. A great deal of the developmental process, that…

  • Opera “too difficult”?

    I read Susan Elkin’s piece for The Independent, ‘Why are educationists so afraid of cultural excellence?’ with much nodding of my head. I am particularly passionate about promoting living artists in my teaching – right from Year 4 upwards – and also ensuring pupils are engaging with as much music as they can, from a…

  • Thrashing the Sea God

    This review was originally published on I Care If You Listen(.com). You can read it here: http://ht.ly/dpk6Y The Tête à Tête Opera Festival at the Riverside Studios, London, seeks to present new and challenging operatic works and this year featured more than seventy performances representing over thirty companies. The spectrum was incredibly broad and represented…

  • Ravel’s Operas: Parody and Pastiche

    After watching the wonderful Glyndebourne Ravel Double Bill, streamed live on the internet, I remembered that as an undergraduate I had written an essay exploring the same two operas. I’ve included the essay below – it is strange reading something from nine years ago and spotting all the errors… but I will leave it intact.…

  • Operatic vernacular

    Listening to the London Road recording reminds me not only how effective this production was but how the vernacular style of speech and singing is immediately engaging for me. I think back to my interest in the Aberfan disaster of the sixties and how hearing accounts of the event by those in the community was…