OperaTV

OperaTV

Cat  //  Undergraduate majoring in Vocal Performance and Political Science. I go through YouTube videos of singers both old and new so that you don't have to.

Dec 19 / 1:27am

Elina Garanca

Studying in Vienna in 2007, I managed to catch Garanca's Charlotte in Werther. All of the straight boys with me were obsessed with her looks, but she delivered more than just a model figure- she truly captured the heart of Charlotte... not even the gigantic set could overshadow her acting and the beautiful, dark quality to her voice. So, when I heard this summer that she was taking over from Gheorghiu in the Met's Carmen, I marked the date of the broadcast in my calendar. With that date fast approaching, I thought I'd try to take a sneak peak at her past triumphs... and they are stunning.

1) Carmen - Act IITerme di Caracalla - Garanca and Borin - After angering Don José with stories of how she would dance for his officers while he was away, Carmen soothes him by dancing for him privately. 

2) Werther - Act III - Vienna State Opera - Garanca and Alvarez - Werther has just read Charlotte's poetry and discovered that she had kept his letters. Realizing that she still loves him, he tries to convince her to continue their love affair. Despite wanting to give in, Charlotte manages to send him away.

One of the most famous interpreters of Carmen, was Conchita Supervia, a Spanish mezzo. This is just a small snippet of her performance (an entire album of Carmen can be found here), but her personality is so vibrant in the video that I became a huge fan immediately afterward.

Dec 19 / 12:50am

Blog Manifesto

I am an undergraduate vocal performance major looking to make it in the big wide world of classical singing. Through the course of my studies, I have found YouTube an invaluable guide for researching the vast amount of vocal repertoire out there. Every day, some incredible piece of operatic or choral music is posted- either some incredible new singer or an older, hard to find recording. I will try to post three to four videos a week.