What makes an opera singer?
And where in the making of a performance is the identity of the singer themselves?
Linda Kitchen goes behind the scenes with prominent voices who have valuable insight about the world of opera, discussing what it means to be a performer, how they got into the profession and how who they are affects how they perform.
Illustrated with photos of the artists in places that lend meaning to their lives by renowned photographer Nobby Clark.
Contents
Biographies - La favorite, Donizetti
Prologue - Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs, Nyman
Act One ‘Shoving us from the jetty’
Scene One - Family background The Captain’s Daughter, Cui
Scene Two - School days The Wandering Scholar, Holst
Scene Three - Defining moment Sonntag aus Licht, Stockhausen
Scene Four - Singing study Les arts florissants, Charpentier
Scene Five - Preparing Bang!, Rutter
Act Two ‘Carry on – it’s going very well’
Scene One - The unfolding The Rake’s Progress, Stravinsky
Scene Two - Learning the score La Conquista, Ferrero
Scene Three - Warming up La Sonnambula, Bellini
Scene Four - The feeling of singing La Rondine, Puccini
Act Three ‘No good playing Mime as if you’re Brad Pitt’
Scene One - Character, text, drama The Jewels of the Madonna, Wolf-Ferrari
Scene Two - Body work The Nose, Shostakovich
Scene Three - The essence The Lighthouse, Maxwell Davies
Scene Four - Problems Trouble in Tahiti, Bernstein
Scene Five - Humour Comedy on the Bridge, Martinů
Intermission - by Thomas Allen Paradise Lost, Penderecki
Act Four ‘Goodies and Baddies’
Scene One - People around you The Dangerous Liaisons, Susa
Scene Two - Composers From Morning to Midnight, Sawer
Scene Three - Conductors Der Corregidor, Wolf
Scene Four - Directors Der Schauspieldirektor, Mozart
Scene Five - Designers Powder her Face, Adès
Scene Six - Agents Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Bizet
Scene Seven - Reviewing reviewers War and Peace, Prokofiev
Act Five ‘Bowls of sushi on a conveyor belt’
Scene One - Changing paths The New Moon, Romberg
Scene Two - Legacy Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Monteverdi
Scene Three - Family The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Nyman
Scene Four - Life beyond the job Il rè pastore, Mozart
Scene Five - The future The Medium, Menotti
Scene Six - Advice Le donne curiose, Wolf-Ferrari
Epilogue - Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck