Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Young singers tackle two 'children's' operas
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: The explorations and self-discovery of youth have extra dimensions for singers. They have to learn how to fit convincingly into a wide range of characters, with the flexibility to master different musical styles, and often singing in a foreign language.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
My dad's a big opera buff so opera has always been a part of my life. When I was a kid, I always wanted to know what the plot was. Of course, plot isn't usually the central focus of opera, but that's what I could latch on to at the time. I was much more excited to listen to or watch operas that were about things that interested me, specifically, Hansel & Gretel, especially considering that pretty much every other opera is about the same thing: a man and a woman fall in love, there is a big misunderstanding, then someone (or more likely everyone) dies (most likely from suicide - which they will sing straight through).
Now that I've grown a bit and come to understand more of what opera is about, Hansel & Gretel isn't nearly my favorite piece. Introducing kids to new a new form of performance, (opera or ballet) with content they're familiar to (Hansel & Gretel and Peter Pan, respectively) seems like a great way to get them interested in a medium that might be a bit our of the ordinary.
Post a Comment