Is anyone aware of any major U.S. or British opera companies that currently have Porgy & Bess scheduled for their current or upcoming seasons? I travel a lot for work, so figured I'd see if anyone knew of particular productions anticipated in the next ~2 years.

I am a 19yo soprano singing the role of Adele in a college production of Die Fledermaus this coming Friday, and I woke up this morning with a cold and I’m freaking out. The role is already quite high for me, and I’m worried I’m going to lose my voice or be too sick to perform. I’ve been hydrating all day, taking vitamin C and turmeric, using a humidifier, and gargling with salt water, but I’m worried it won’t be enough because I’ve lost my voice in the past and it was so bad I couldn’t even sing over an F5, so I’m losing it. Am I doing enough? What can I do if I lose my voice? I have worked so hard on this role and I really want to be able to perform it.

Is there an Opera singer who has perfect accent and pronunciation when singing Ah mes amis! - Fille du regiment? I personally don't know any French. I only heard Pavarotti, Alfredo Kraus and Juan Diego Flores' version.

There’s a song playing when Mr. Brigstock is burning photographs that i absolutely love and can’t find the title to enjoy the entire song. I’ve searched in the usual places with no success so I’m reaching out here to those who may have the answer. I appreciate any responses!

If you asked me, then I'd say that, being a MASSIVE fan of Japanese culture, I've always loved Madama Butterfly ❤️

I attended Atlanta Opera’s “Magic Flute” last night (review: very nice), and there was a non-singing character dressed as Mozart who opens the opera and then returns three hours later at the final curtain call to close it.

I’ve seen this kind of non-singing, “all observing” dramatic element a lot. Another example is Santa Fe Opera’s production of “Carmen” from a couple summers ago — the one starring Isabel Leonard — where a child girl version of Carmen appears at the very beginning of the opera and then at the very end.

Is there a term for this dramatic technique?

Thinking about going to see Romeo et Juliette, with Elsa Dreisig as Juliette.

Has anyone heard her live? What is she like?

How would you describe her voice live, in the house

Sorry if this is the wrong sub for this; I didn't know where else to ask. In Handel's Acis and Galatea, Acis has an aria called Love in her Eyes Sits Playing. The words to the first part are:

Love in her eyes sits playing, And sheds delicious death;

Love on her lips is straying, And warbling in her breath!

Love on her breast sits panting And swells with soft desire;

No grace, no charm is wanting, To set the heart on fire.

Most of it is pretty self-explanatory, but it always bugged me not knowing what he meant in the first line, where love "sheds delicious death". It just sounds weird. Is it a metaphor? Is there something I'm missing here?

I've studied French, German, and the occasional bit of other common opera languages like Italian. What I notice is that even when I know the vocabulary that's being sung (e.g. in some of my favorite French baroque operas) I have a hard time comprehending phrases and following the story as it is sung. Does anyone have any tips or resources for improving my real time comprehension?

I wondered if there might be somewhere I can listen to opera while reading the words, but this doesn't seem common outside live opera settings or full video recordings. Any advice is welcome! Thanks in advance :)

Here's the thing: I'm not exactly an opera fan. Or maybe I just don’t know opera well enough. I’ve listened to a few pieces, but most left me a little... well, tired.

But there’s one opera piece I can’t stop listening to—"È strano... Ah, fors'è lui... Sempre libera" from La Traviata, performed by Lisette Oropesa. (I stumbled on it thanks to a viral video of Oropesa performing it at La Scala, with an audience member joining in.)

I can’t quite put my finger on what’s hooked me. It’s foreboding, sweet, funny, achingly emotional…just stunning. Let’s just say seeing/hearing it live is now firmly on my bucket list.

Until then, I'd love recommendations for similar pieces, if such a thing even exists. I honestly have no idea.

I do most of my listening from recordings of full operas. Looking for recommendations of your favorite records of great singers doing any combination of songs, arias, duets, etc.

Edit: Thanks for all the great recommendations everyone!

I'm still new to Wagner I hope the experts here can answer this question of mine. Did Wagner specifically say that his works (especially the ones that require heavy voices) should preferably be performed in Bayreuth and nowhere else? And if it's to be performed somewhere else, should people take precaution to not play the orchestra too loud? Or cover the orchestra like in Bayreuth? Did he make any comment about that? Or did Wagner not want his works to be performed in too large venues so singers wouldn't have to push?

After a year of listening to Classical music and intermittently listening to arias, I've finally caught the opera bug and started listening to full operas. I'll admit that I gravitate more towards the music. I've currently listened to Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Die Zauberflotë (Mozart), Carmen (Bizet), Madama Butterfly (Puccini) and I've started listening to Il Trittico (also Puccini).

All of these operas have been excellent but I find that the music in Puccini's operas is absolutely beautiful. The music is a perfect conbination of dramatic and beautiful whilst it matches the storyline perfectly. Whilst I can only remember the arias and overtures in Mozart and Bizet's works, I can remember a lot more pieces in Puccini's works.

Whilst I have fallen in love with Puccini's works, I am hoping to get into Opera more and discover new works that have excellent music similar to Puccini. Does anyone have any recommendations for composers and/or individual operas that have excellent music? Thank you for your help.

When do you think kaufmann will retire? Some people are saying that he will do so soon, and I´d like to see him live before he does.

Someone tell me- Orfeo sometimes is labelled as a high bari/low tenor or just a tenor. I see the same with some French roles but this one has no clear distinction? Is it usually tenors? Curious on anyone’s opinion!

https://youtu.be/iRDbdTjGx64?si=txlkF22-NyTp2P-1

Sigurd Björling is Hans Sachs.

Hi everyone! I'm currently trying to program my graduate recital, and I came across this song cycle while digging through YouTube for unique repertoire. I absolutely fell in love with it when I heard it, but there are a few problems: the scores appear to be out-of-print, and any copies that are available are in libraries based in Australia. Unfortunately, I live in the United States, so this second problem is more of an issue for me. Does anyone have a digital copy of these scores? If so, would they be willing to send a pdf my way? I will be eternally grateful. I'm especially looking for The Vampire's Lullaby.

So somber, so sad, but comforting at the same time. Kirsten Flagstad had a voice like no other.

My mom loves opera but due to her age can't go in person anymore. She has Met OnDemand and we've looked into medici.tv. Neither seems to have any Teatro Colon productions. Is the any streaming service with Teatro Colon productions available on demand or live? What about disks, DVD or Blu-ray?

Hello! I just recently started grad school after coming from a music education program and theres some large gaps in my education when it comes to opera.

I need an example of a secco recitative in Italian for my lyric diction class. Immediately I thought of Monteverdi but my teacher said we’re not allowed to pick Monteverdi. I’m at a loss because to be totally candid I barely know what secco recitative is! Could anyone suggest some recit to look at? I’m a tenor (leaning towards a fuller heavier fach if that matters) and the more text to work on the better.

Hello, all. So I am a high school senior, currently working on my vocal performance applications. One of the schools I am applying to is requesting a list of all the repertoire I’ve learned in my high school years. It specifies on the website that it wants everything, including pieces learned in the context of ‘solo, chamber, and large ensembles, as applicable’.

Since I am a vocalist, my solo repertoire is pretty well filled out, but if I am including what I’ve done for choral works, the list feels excruciatingly long.

I reached out and asked admissions if they wanted everything, or just a paired down list. They told me to provide everything. However, upon reading my email back, I wasn’t specific on if I meant just solo wise, or including ensembles.

My private teacher also didn’t really provide much insight. Thus, I am here. Do I provide all of the choral works I’ve done, a paired down list, or just my solo rep? Please let me know!

I know New England has a historic Oratorio and Cantata scene. Do you think it’s possible to create a full blown career around Massachusetts, Connecticut, and RI in Concert repertoire? If so, how would you approach doing so and where would you start?

Anyone got any good traditional recordings of Faust on video? Preferably looking for something with English subtitles. Anything helps!