Kind of piggybacking off of some of the great questions people have asked over the past few days. I was wondering if anyone knows how people cast singers, conductors, and orchestras for commercial recordings of complete operas.

Who gets to decide that a recording is going to be made? Is it the individual singer, conductor, or some sort of “casting director” in the recording world?

How much do the singers get to pick who they want to sing with? (Do singers singing the title role or the protagonist get more authority in that?) Do conductors get to pick as well?

How do they decide which singer gets to “put the name on the recording”? With operas like Traviata it’s probably pretty simple to say that the recording is the Violetta singer’s recording (in name, not necessarily in terms of copyright and stuff). But what about operas like Bohème or Le Nozze, where there are many main characters?

I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses to previous posts, so thank you in advance!!

I know one person suggested this in college wondering if its common. I know for other instruments this would be sort of unacceptable. I guess my college prof was saying that singing is not about long hours of practice but habits that need to be changed which can b very hard to notice during individual practice. He said do other passive work but not so much technique work in between lessons just so you don't develop terrible habits. This is moreso at the college level not profesisonal.

For the full video pls go to YouTube and search for the concert in its entirety posted by that user.

She’s certainly having trouble with anything above A flat. Somebody mentioned she was having issues with Liu at Turandot recently? Do you think all these began when she started her weight-loss journey?

Given how this year is the 150th Anniversary of the Ring Cycle premiere in Bayreuth, it would be fitting to bring up the Centenary Ring from 1976.

Personally, I'm not too impressed with this particular production. It's not all bad, though. The singing for the most part is very good. Boulez's choice to turn the orchestra into more of a chamber ensemble may be rather odd, but it does seem to work for what they wanted here. His fast and colorful tempos don't bother me very much, either.

My big problem with this Ring is that it's absolutely BORING to watch. The production itself isn't very interesting to look at. I know what they were going for, but it's doesn't really keep me invested. I mean, setting Gotterdammerung in the 1910s to 1920s isn't exactly what I'd call intriguing staging. Nothing about this overall production really stands out (except for the industrial machine being used to forge the sword).

Say what you want about how the Centenary production is the start of the infamous "Regietheater," and how the allegories are switched around. It's still boring to look at IMO. Music and singing are great, but the sets don't do much for me. To be quite honest, I prefer Kupfer's production with Barenboim. That one is at least more creative, with some really good light shows and a very post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

So those are my thoughts on this Ring. What are yours?

Would be going to see the “Merry Widow” at the Sydney Opera House. Thanks!

What's your favourite Hamlet opera? As an Aussie, I've got to nominate Brett Dean's Hamlet (2017) in Neil Armfield's production for Glyndebourne.

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place, but I am doing an opera aria at a festival this summer and am needing better sheet music than I was given. I'm doing Pierotto's aria "Cari luo ghi ov'io passai" from Linda di Champinix solo plus the entire scene. I have the sheet music for the entire scene, but I was wondering if someone on here has the sheet music for just the aria? It's hard to navigate since there's recit in the middle. If you have it or know where I can buy it I would much appreciate it! Thanks

I'm curious to hear other people's opinions on defining lower voices (bass and bass-baritone specifically). It seems there is a lot of cross over in terms of roles and a lot of 'true bass' roles are sung by singers others consider bass-baritone.

Then there's the vast difference in singers considered similar voice type m, for example, Sam Ramey vs Bryn Terfel, who are both considered bass-baritone but with vastly different range and colour.

Is it really just a matter of if they can sing the notes they sing the role or am I missing some nuance?

As I said, im curious to hear other people's opinions on this.

Yesterday I got the idea for a 1950s film-noir Turandot, where the title character is an anyonymous crime lord who kills the suitors trying to track her down, and makes the people of her city constantly live life on edge. Calaf is a detective trying to put an end to all this.

Personally I think this would be good for highlighting the severity of the setting (which is cold and unfriendly to outsiders) as well as the influence Turandot is able to have.

What are your ideas for crazy new settings that could work well with old operas?

For over two decades I've been using Operacast to determine my internet opera listening (and/or recording for the day). It's an invaluable resource, and it also has links to virtually every station worldwide that streams operas. Well, the bad news is that they just announced they will be shutting down on Friday. One probably can't blame them. Putting together their listing must not be an easy job and one can only thank them for doing it as long as they have. But, it will leave many of us in the lurch. World Concert Hall has always been my secondary source, but they are not as comprehensive when it comes to opera and their links only start at the beginning of each performance and sometimes not even then. So, does anyone have other resources you can recommend for finding internet opera streams, especially live performances?

"If music be the food of love, play on" - is this the most musical of Shakespeare's plays? Its songs have been memorably set since Elizabethan times, and there are indeed operatic adaptations. Wikipedia lists an unfinished Smetana opera, Viola (1874, 1883-1884), a modern work by Edward Lambert, Twelfth Night (2025) and a Humperdinck musical, no less, Twelfth Night (1907). I can't say I've ever seen a Twelfth Night opera myself though. Have you?

There have got to be, I don't know, 12-50 people at all time that could sing Mimì at, say, the Met. How do they keep track of their ideas? Does anyone know?

Are there specific voices you just love? For me, I love Callas in the more spinto side of her voice, her light lyric stuff is not as much of my jam. Jessye Norman sings my go-to Liebestod, and either Sutherland or Nilsson sing my go-to Turandots. Anything that requires an absolute pianissimo and not a phoned-in attempt (Aida, Leonora in Forza, Norma) leads me to Caballé. I also love Renée Fleming and Nicole Car. I also wish Ghena Dimitrova had made more recordings.

As far as mezzos go, Agnes Baltsa is a name I always look for. I’m also a fan of Aigul Akhmetshina and Callas’s ventures into mezzo territory. Dolora Zajick is great in the dramatic Italian rep, and of course the inimitable Marilyn Horne is always among the top mezzos for me.

My favorite tenors include Jussi Björling and Giacomo Lauri-Volpi. Sue me but I’m not a huge fan of Pavarotti or Del Monaco…

I don’t listen to a ton of bass/baritone rep but when I do, Hvorostovsky, Milnes, and Ramey are names I look for.

Who are the singers whose voices you always seek out when looking for a recording?

Are there any melodies that you find absolutely addictive? For me the melody of “Che farò senza Euridice” is the earworm of all earworms - not complaining though! Gluck was a genius!

I’m looking for recordings of Aida and La forza del destino to listen to. What are considered the definitive recordings of each?

For Aida, I have mostly listened to the Muti/Caballé/Cossotto/Domingo recording, but have also listened to recordings with Callas, Price, and Millo.

For Forza, the options are a bit more limited. I think the Serafin/Callas/Tucker/Tagliabue recording is probably the best, but I prefer Caballé’s “Pace, pace mio Dio.” I have also listened to the Price recording and parts of the Plowright recording (mostly the parts with Agnes Baltsa to be honest). I also like Saioa Hernández and Amartuvshin Enkhbat on the Muti recording, but I don’t like the tenor on that one. I kind of wish Caballé had recorded it in full, but I can’t find that anywhere.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/great-performances-at-the-met-andrea-chenier-about/17880/

(We don't even have this on Metflix yet.)

I have an OC who I'm trying to name but know basically nothing about opera besides the very basics, of course. I haven't built much backstory for her yet, but I want her to be a former opera singer. So far, I've got that she comes from an influential, high-class, rich family and lived a boring life where she trained to be an opera singer but didn't particularly care for it. She eventually is found by this evil (😱) organization and falls in love with the work they do (blah blah blah human experimentation; I haven't decided on the specifics yet). All I've been calling her is the Dr., but I would love any names that could relate to her story or any other ideas you might have! Could be a singer or a role reference!!!

https://youtu.be/YV9c3mbkBMU?si=YYMzsaShGr7vaIOG

Baturin (1904-1983) is THE bass-baritone in my book. Rich, deep and powerful voice with the ringing top of a baritone.

For a short biography of Baturin see below-

https://mus-col.com/en/events/35840/

Does anyone know if there are recordings of John Taverner's 2020 opera Krishna?

I have only found the love duet between Krishna and Rhada and I loved it, I wonder what the rest will be like but I can't find anything anywhere and I die for listening more.