ARTICLES
Part I: You cannot starve yourself and expect yourself to sing well
Unfortunately, this industry has not been left untouched by the nauseating consequences of diet culture and the diet industry. Just like athletes, actors and models we are constantly looked at and inevitably judged. We are constantly in the public eye and of course that makes us the perfect victims for body judgement and shaming. We can never be perfect, we’re always either too slim or too curvy. People often don’t care to ask themselves what might be going on in a person’s life, but somehow, they care about what their body looks like. Having healed from the diet culture oppression, I thought that this subject would no longer trigger me until I realised that this toxic diet culture inspired behaviour is all around me. Diet culture is so ingrained into our being and everyday life that it seems to have seamlessly and obnoxiously found its way into so many of
Daria Rybak
Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubaș is a romanian soprano. Her career developed between 1960-1990. She was admired for her beautiful light voice, for her dramatic talent and for her adaptation of singing in a lot of languages. She was born on 9 June 1939 in Romania in a family where the traditions of music already existed, so she grew up in a space where the music was always present, her father being a tenor in an amateur choir. Ileana’s musical career started at an early age when she started being a member of the children choir of Romanian Radio, a big thing back in those times. She was nine years old back then, and when she was eleven years old she already sung as a soloist. All these contexts and her abilities were an important point of decision for her family because they took her to Bucharest, the capital of Romania, to study
Sonia Ilincăi
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico City is a prominent cultural and architectural landmark. „Bellas Artes” for short, has been called the „art cathedral of Mexico”, and is located on the western side of the historic center of Mexico City. Bellas Artes replaced the original National Theatre, built in the late 19th century. The building was demolished later as part of urban redesign of Mexico City, and a more opulent building was planned to celebrate the centennial of the Mexican War of Independence in 1910. The project for the Palacio de Bellas Artes began under President Porfirio Díaz in 1904. The building’s design was initially created by Italian architect Adamo Boari, who combined Art Nouveau and Neoclassical styles. But complications arising from the soft subsoil and the political problem both before and during the Mexican Revolution, hindered then stopped construction completely by 1913. History The
Alice Lechner
Part I: You cannot starve yourself and expect yourself to sing well
Unfortunately, this industry has not been left untouched by the nauseating consequences of diet culture and the diet industry. Just like athletes, actors and models we are constantly looked at and inevitably judged. We are constantly in the public eye and of course that makes us the perfect victims for body judgement and shaming. We can never be perfect, we’re always either too slim or too curvy. People often don’t care to ask themselves what might be going on in a person’s life, but somehow, they care about what their body looks like. Having healed from the diet culture oppression, I thought that this subject would no longer trigger me until I realised that this toxic diet culture inspired behaviour is all around me. Diet culture is so ingrained into our being and everyday life that it seems to have seamlessly and obnoxiously found its way into so many of
Daria Rybak
Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubaș is a romanian soprano. Her career developed between 1960-1990. She was admired for her beautiful light voice, for her dramatic talent and for her adaptation of singing in a lot of languages. She was born on 9 June 1939 in Romania in a family where the traditions of music already existed, so she grew up in a space where the music was always present, her father being a tenor in an amateur choir. Ileana’s musical career started at an early age when she started being a member of the children choir of Romanian Radio, a big thing back in those times. She was nine years old back then, and when she was eleven years old she already sung as a soloist. All these contexts and her abilities were an important point of decision for her family because they took her to Bucharest, the capital of Romania, to study
Sonia Ilincăi
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico City is a prominent cultural and architectural landmark. „Bellas Artes” for short, has been called the „art cathedral of Mexico”, and is located on the western side of the historic center of Mexico City. Bellas Artes replaced the original National Theatre, built in the late 19th century. The building was demolished later as part of urban redesign of Mexico City, and a more opulent building was planned to celebrate the centennial of the Mexican War of Independence in 1910. The project for the Palacio de Bellas Artes began under President Porfirio Díaz in 1904. The building’s design was initially created by Italian architect Adamo Boari, who combined Art Nouveau and Neoclassical styles. But complications arising from the soft subsoil and the political problem both before and during the Mexican Revolution, hindered then stopped construction completely by 1913. History The
Alice Lechner
TCHAIKOVSKY'S EUGENE ONEGIN
The opera Eugene Onegin is one of the most famous and loved work of the greatest Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This 1955 staging featured some of the leading artists of the operatic stage – Galina Vishnevskaya as Tatyana, Sergey Lemeshev as Lensky, Evgeny Belov as Onegin, Ivan Petrov as Prince Gremlin, and also the soloists, choir and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre conducted by Boris Khaikin. This is one of the most emblematic recordings of Tchaivosky’s opera. The composer turned to the story of Alexander Pushkin’s novel in verse of the same name in 1877, and it took him less than a year to compose the opera. Tchaikovsky somehow reconsidered the plot of the novel focusing on its lyrical component, its heroine Tatyana, and her love for Onegin. Tatyana confesses her feelings to Onegin, but he discards her. After awhile, he sees her in a ballroom and realizes he is in love with her, but it is too late – she is already another
Opera Charm Team
HÄNDEL'S THEODORA
The oratorio Theodora with libretto by Thomas Morell belongs to the group of the last four original oratorios composed by Händel between 1749 and 1752. Preceded by Susanna and Solomon (1749) and followed only by Jeptha (1752). Theodora – a tragic drama about early Christian martyrdom seldom performed until becoming popularised. Some of the credit for the deserved transformation in the oratorio’s fortunes has been its transferability to the opera house. The prestigious conductor William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissant perform one of the favourite oratorios of the composer of this work, G.F. Händel. Fond, flatt’ring world, adieu! Thy gaily-smiling pow’r,Empty treasures, Fleeting pleasures,Ne’er shall tempt or charm me more.Faith inviting, Hope delighting,Nobler joys we now pursue. (Theodora) Theodora (3CD) Didymus | Daniel TaylorValens | Nathan BergMessenger | Laurent SlaarsIrene | Juliette GalstainTheodora | Sophie DanemanSeptimius | Richard Croft Les Arts Florissants William Christie | conductor Recorded: 2000, Paris Released: 2003Company: Erato
Opera Charm Team
ROSSINI'S IL VIAGGIO A REIMS
The prestigious Rundfunkchor Berlin together with the Berliner Philharmoniker perform Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims conducted by Claudio Abbado. Recorded in 1993, it presents one of G. Rossini’s most emblematic works composed for the coronation of King Charles X of France in 1825. Musicologist Janet Johnson recovered the work which was revived at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro under the baton of the same musical director who conducts this marvellous recording and with a scene by Luca Ronconi. Il mio crudel rigore dubbioso e incerto il rende; di speme e di timore palpita in seno il cor! Già cessa il mio rigore, per lui mi parla amor. (Melibea) Il Viaggio A Reims (2CD) Corinna | Sylvia McNairMarchesa Melibea | Lucia Valentini TerraniContessa di Folleville | Luciana SerraMadama Cortese | Cheryl StuderCavalier Belfiore | Raul GimenezConte di Libenskof | William MatteuzziLord Sidney | Samuel RameyDon Profondo | Ruggero RaimondiBarone di Trombonok |
February 2025
Opera Charm Team
Sir Colin Davis
Colin Rex Davis was born on September 25th, 1927, in Weybridge, Surrey, England, and was known for his exceptional interpretations of a wide range of classical and contemporary repertoire. His early exposure to music was through the clarinet, which he started playing at a young age. His interest in conducting developed during his time at Christ’s Hospital School in Sussex, where he had the opportunity to conduct the school orchestra. Davis’s musical education continued at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied clarinet, but he also showed a keen interest in conducting. His talent as a conductor became evident, and he won the conducting prize at the Royal College of Music. His early career included positions such as assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra. Sir Colin Davis and Convent Garden In 1970, Sir David Webster, who ran
November 2023
Alice Lechner
Teatro Massimo
We continue our Theaters around the World column, and in this issue, we arrive in Sicily, more precisely in Palermo. It is known that Teatro Massimo di Palermo was, for a long time, the third largest opera house in Europe, after Palais Garnier and Wiener Staatsoper. The construction of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, began in 1875 and was a significant architectural project that spanned several years. An international competition for the creation of the opera house was announced by the Palermo Council in 1864 at the persistence of Mayor Antonio Starrabba di Rudinì. For a long time, there had been talk of building a big new theatre in Palermo, worthy of the second biggest city in southern Italy after Naples. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Palermo was engaged in getting itself a new identity in the light of the new national unity.Cultural life was
November 2023
Alice Lechner
Stephen Grady Gould
As a prolific heldentenor, Stephen Gould was a frequent artist on the Bayreuth Festival stage, appearing in almost 100 performances over a period of 18 years. Stephen Grady Gould was born on January 24th, 1962 in Roanoke, Virginia. He is the son of Loren and Annie Gould. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with John Moriarty and graduated from Olivet Nazarene University in 1984, trained as a baritone. I’d always loved classical music and jazz but never considered singing as a career and I was already in university before I switched but I did a lot of musical theatre just to make ends meet. Because of the nature of my voice, I tried to be a dramatic Rossini tenor and that worked for – I don’t know – about 14 months (laughs), and then the voice started having a lot of problems because it
October 2023
Alice Lechner
Copenhagen Opera House
In this issue, Theatre around the world rubric arrives in Denmark, to be precise in Copenhagen. Copenhagen Opera House (Operaen in Danish) is among some of the most modern Opera Houses in the world. The whole project was a donation by the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation to the Danish state. The idea for a new opera House in Copenhagen was first proposed in the 1990s. In 2000, the Danish government announced an international architectural competition to design the new opera house. The winning design for the Copenhagen Opera House was submitted by the renowned Danish architect Henning Larsen. His design was chosen for its innovative and striking contemporary architecture. Construction on the opera house began in 2001 on the island of Holmen in Copenhagen’s harbor. The construction process was complex, as the building had to be constructed partially in the water, and it involved a combination of
October 2023
Alice Lechner
Rossini in Wildbad
In the middle of the Black Forest in Germany there is a beautiful, historical village known for its thermal-water wellness resorts. Besides being visited for its relaxation and medical purposes, people come here every summer for the Rossini in Wildbad, Belcanto Opera Festival. It spans a history of 34 years, and although it is a small festival compared to others, it has established itself as one of the classical music jewels in the world of opera. Why Rossini? The story tells that in 1856, the composer Gioachino Rossini spent, together with friends, several weeks in this idyllic place, a journey that rekindled his compositional interest. This year’s Rossini in Wildbad festival was, as always, a spectacular blend of successful well-known operas paired with delightful discoveries. Over the course of 10 days, there were no less than 15 representations of different operatic and non-operatic pieces. They included Il Barbiere di Siviglia,
August 2023
Alex Suciu
