San Diego Opera's official blog.
We focus on the serious and not-so-serious world of opera with behind-the-scenes looks at our productions, artists and news.
A Company Introduction
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A new and improved Company introduction video with lots of wonderful performance clips. Enjoy!
We here at Aria Serious are torn by the news that ITV in the UK is filming a new reality series called "Pop Star to Opera Star" where pop stars will tackle the operatic repertoire while being mentored by Katherine Jenkins and Rolando Villazon. While we here at Aria Serious love to see our favorite art form on prime time TV, we're also concerned that this lowers the artistic standard. In a Company that prides itself in attracting the best talent possible, do shows like this undermine our work or is it a much needed breath of fresh air? One thing the show has going for it - Meatloaf (the singer, not the leftovers in your fridge) will be a judge. You can read about it here .
Getting ready with Dr. Nic last week for a TV interview he came up with five tidbits about La boheme to be used on air. Live TV being what live TV is, not all of them made it onto the show, but I thought they were interesting enough to be recycled here on the blog. Besides, I'm busy hammering away at the 2011 press release so pressed for time today. 2011 press release you say? You betcha. But, faithful readers, here's a tidbit: a certain married couple returns to us next season in another opera by Gounod. Without further ado, five things about La boheme you'll be glad to know 1) Giacomo Puccini’s opera La boheme is one of the three most popular operas ever written but it wasn ’t always that way. It was not an immediate success. An opera by a rival Italian composer, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, on the same subject (and also named Le bohème ) premiered about a year after Puccini’s and was quite successful. It’s possible that, in fact, Puccini actually stole the idea ...
I'm in awe of opera singers. Being tone deaf and born with a lousy voice, unable to act or follow simple directions, I'm amazed by what they do on stage. And then they do it over and over again, night after night, city after city, with a new cast, new audience and new orchestra. I'm also surprised how they can be contradictions of sorts and I remember a singer we had a few seasons back -- quite excellent and world renowned -- who confided in me they hated opera, and then proceeded to give me his best Homer Simpson snoring-on-the-couch impression. It was quite good. While I don't exactly share his sentiments, it was suprising to hear this. Enter tenor Marcus Haddock . Marcus makes his Company debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca next season. Marcus isn't your stereotypical opera singer although he loves to sing. He also loves to ride his motorcycle. And he listens to Whitesnake (yes, that's them above -- back in the day when rock was big and hair was even bigger). I li...
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