ARIA SERIOUS?

To whet your appetite, some photos from last night's Tosca rehearsal. All photos are by Ken "Don't Panic" Howard. For those in the San Diego region who want even more of a sneak peak, OperaSpotlight : Tosca airs tonight. Click the link for times, channel information and additional dates. -- Edward

The cast of Tosca including Sylvie Valayre (Tosca), Marcus Haddock (Cavaradossi), Geer "Opera God" Grimsley (Scarpia) as well as conductor Edoardo Muller and director Andrew Sinclair got together to discuss Tosca last Thursday night in San Diego in front of a packed house. Through the wonders of the internets (which we still think is just a fad) we bring this conversation to you... Enjoy. -- Edward

The North County Times ran an article on Marcus Haddock this morning. Marcus makes his Company debut with us as Cavaradossi in Tosca on Saturday. Marcus is sounding excellent in rehearsals and I look forward to seeing him onstage tonight during the Orchestra Dress. You can read the article here . -- Edward

The San Diego Union Tribune ran an excellent article on relationships between opera companies and singers yesterday, focusing on Sylvie Valayre, our upcoming Tosca this week. You can read the article here . -- Edward

Although we here at Aria Serious had our doubts, Greer Grimsley, our Scarpia in Tosca , confirmed last night he has nothing to do with the Facebook group " Greer Grimsley is an Opera God " and after much prodding, admitted he didn't even have a Facebook page. Greer and the rest of the crew open Tosca next Saturday. Buy a ticket and come see the hair. -- Edward

Today is the first day of rehearsals for Tosca ! First days are always exciting around here and go something like this: We begin our morning with a staff and cast breakfast in Ian Campbell's office where he tells the same jokes we've heard each first day of rehearsals for the past 8 years while we eat bagels and sip coffee. After mingling, we make our way to the rehearsal hall where the cast performs a sing-through of the opera. It is a great time to hear the vocal talents of our singers; especially the ones making debuts with us because cds , dvds and YouTube just does not do them justice. Heading up this sing through of Tosca today is San Diego Opera's Principal Guest Conductor Edoardo Müller . In preparation for his arrival here we asked local writer Charlene Baldridge to chat with Edoardo and take a look at his long relationship with us. *** It could be a slight exaggeration, but let us say it anyway: San Diego Opera Principal Guest Conductor Edoardo Müller is e...

I honestly didn't think anything out there could top More Cowbell in terms of internet brilliance. I was wrong. Youtube user barkingbartok has upped the ante with their brilliant lego creations -- staging abridged operas as performed by lego characters. Part stop action, part puppetry these creations have me smiling with delight. I love the little details -- bending back the figures when they reach for the high notes, the accurate little sets and delightfully simple subtitles -- this just might be the best introduction to opera one can find. Since Tosca is in tap this season, I've pasted the lego version below. But barkingbartok has also done Carmen , Il trovatore and more. Check them out. - Edward Tosca - Act 1, part 1 Tosca - Act 1, part 2 Tosca - Act 2 Tosca - Act 3

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...

Being the first post of San Diego Opera's first blog, I thought this should be a post of firsts. To do this, I could think of no better way than to dive into our first opera of next season, Tosca and a chat with Sylvie Valayre who will be making her first appearance with us in January (but not her last -- we'll be welcoming her back in 2010 for Nabucco ). It is always exciting welcoming a new singer to our Company, especially one that we will be developing a relationship with over the years. Nerve wracking too; I have a tendency to ask a lot from our singers when they get here -- artist interviews, television programs, photographs, etc... all crammed around their busy rehearsal schedule -- I sometimes wonder when they find the time to sing. I was able to catch up with Sylvie via email a few weeks back and had the chance to ask her some questions. It is always nice when I can learn a little bit about a singer before they get here -- I can keep my distance if they seem difficul...