Sounds of Learning

Welcome students and teachers to opera online! Continuing to look at the main characters of the opera, next we will look at iago, the cause of Otello's rage! Website of the week Baritone Mark Delavan will make his Opera Company of Philadelphia debut as Iago in Otello . To find out more about his life, roles and future performances visit his website . YouTube Clip of the Week Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Iago's "Credo" from Otello Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org . Until next week…

Welcome students and teachers to opera online! Continuing to look at the main characters of the opera, next we will look at Desdemona who is Otellos wife. Website of the week Norah Amsellem will make her Opera Company of Philadelphia debut as Desdemona in Otello . Find out more about her life, roles and future performances visit her website . YouTube Clip of the Week Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as Desdemona sings "Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello . A Royal Opera House Covent Garden production from 1992. Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org . Until next week…

Welcome students and teachers to opera online! Continuing to look at the main characters of the opera, next we will look at Desdemona who is Otellos wife. Website of the week Norah Amsellem will make her Opera Company of Philadelphia debut as Desdemona in Otello . Find out more about her life, roles and future performances visit her website . YouTube Clip of the Week This week we'll see Desdemona's famous Willow Song and Ave Maria from the last act of the opera. This scene opens the last act of the opera. Dedemona has just been humiliated in front of the Cyprian and Venetian noblemen when Otello threw her to the ground in front of everyone. he orders her go to go bed. With an ominous sense of foreboding, Desdemona remembers her mother's maidservant Barbara who was abandoned by her lover and used to sing a sad song, the Willow Song. Now Desdemona sings the song and as Emilia departs desperately cries out to her. Alone, Desdemona prays the Virgin Mary and goes to bed. Da...

Welcome students and teachers to opera online! Last week we looked at Verdi, the man behind the music and the opening Act of Otello . Next we will begin to look at the main characters of the opera and the people who have the challange of singing those roles in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production. Website of the week Clifton Forbis makes his Opera Company of Philadelphia debut in the title role of Otello. Find out more about his life, roles and future performances visit his website . Mr. Forbis is well known for portraying larger-than-life characters like Otello. His burnished, big, heroic voice is perfect for the tragic role of the Venetian general. YouTube Clip of the Week Placido Domingo sings Otello's Act III aria "Dio! mi potevi scagliar." Otello has just accused Desdemona of having an affair with Cassio, which she has vehemently denied. Still, he is unsure. He tells God that he could have handled any hardship in his marriage to Desdemona except inf...

Welcome students and teachers to opera online! I hope everyone enjoyed their summer! The Opera Company of Philadelphia has a fabulous season ahead this year beginning with the highly theatrical opera, Verdi's Otello . We will begin by looking at the composer behind the music Giuseppe Verdi. Website of the week To find out more about this opera, including links to cast member webpages, photos from rehearsals, a downloadable podcast about the opera, the official Giuseppe Verdi webpage, a full piano-vocal score, and more, visit the Sounds of Learning page on Otello here . YouTube Clip of the Week Zeffirelli's movie O tello was released in 1986 and starred Plácido Domingo as Otello, Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona and Justino Díaz as Iago. This is the opening scene "Una Vela... Esultate!" The crowd prays for Otello's safe return in the midst of the storm. Otello, the general from Venice who has been stationed in Cyrpus as governor, triumphantly returns. He has j...

You know we can't send out anything this week without mentioning the newest internet sensation, Jackie Evancho. In case you don't know who she is, she sang O mio babbino caro from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi on the TV show America's Got Talent . There are voice teachers who may be concerned that she's singing in such a mature manner for one so young, but the effect is undeniably thrilling! Check out the clip of her singing further down in this eblast. We'll also have the last installment of the BBC What Makes a Tenor ? documentary, and we'll look at the bass voice, that deepest of voices, in this segment. The Documentary This is the last in our Documentary series - What Makes a Great Tenor? - Part 7 I hope you have enjoyed! Website of the week There are many different types of Basses from Basso cantante/lyric high bass/lyric bass-baritone to the Dramatic basso profondo. To find out more about the Bass Voice type, click here . You Tube Clip of the Week Basso ...

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online! The Documentary What Makes a Great Tenor? - Part 6 Website of the week There are many different tyoes of Baritones such as Bariton/Baryton-Martin, Lyric baritone, The kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, Dramatic baritone, Lyric Low Baritone/Lyric Bass-baritone, Dramatic Bass-baritone/Low Baritone and Baryton-noble. to find out more out the Baritone Voice type, click here . You Tube Clip of the Week Lyric baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings "Ja vas lyublyu" from the Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org . Until next week…

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online! This week, we'll see more of the BBC documentary on tenors, follow that up with a clip from OCP's production of Turandot, and there's two great operas happening this weekend - one on radio and one on t.v.! The Documentary What Makes a Great Tenor? - Part 5 Website of the week Over half way through the documentary on What makes a great tenor? we will also take a look at the Tenor Voice type as part of our web site of the week. For more information on the Tenor Voice, click here . You Tube Clip of the Week From our very own Opera Company of Philadelphia production of Puccini's Turandot s pinto tenor Francesco Hong sings "Nessun Dorma" on March 6, 2009. Opera on Air On Saturday, July 31th at 12:00 pm WRTI Radio will broadcast Los Angeles's Opera Company's production of Die Walkure, by Richard Wagner conducted by James Conlon . It's the second opera in his four-part Ring of the Nibelung . The "...

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online! The Documentary What Makes a Great Tenor? - Part 4 Website of the week A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or (less frequently) a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely the normal or modal voice. Click here to find out more about this rare voice type. You Tube Clip of the Week From Handel's Messiah "He was despised" sung by countertenor Alfred Deller. Opera on Air On Saturday, July 31st at 1pm WRTI Radio will broadcast Los Angeles's Opera Company's production of Das Rheingold by Wagner conducted by . The cast includes: Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org . Until next week…

Welcome students and teacher to opera online! We'll continue our look at BBC's documentary on the Tenor Voice and pay tribute to the British tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson who passed away earlier this week at the age of 69. Then we'll hear a little bit about the contralto voice. The Documentary What Makes a Great Tenor? - Part 3 We'll learn a bit more about different voice types - particularly the light, lyric, spinto, and dramatic tenor. This clip includes performances by Roberto Alagna, Fritz Wunderlich, Luciano Pavarotti, and more. ANTHONY ROLFE JOHNSON (November 5, 1940 - July 21, 2010) Tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson was famous for his crystal clear diction (especially in English), as a remarkable interpreter of Benjamin Britten's heroes, and his exemplary work in baroque and classical era music. He infrequently performed operas in the United States, but has a large recorded legacy. Here is an example of his singing. We'll hear the heroic and virtuosic aria...

How's summer so far? Scary to think we're half way through it! This week the clips are as hot as the weather has been. We'll continue our video series with BBC's documentary What makes a Great Tenor , and then we'll continue to look at voice types. Last week we looked at sopranos and this week we'll look at the next lower voice, mezzo-sopranos. The Documentary What Makes a Great Tenore? - Part 2 In this excerpt host Rolando Villazón talks voice, specifically that tricky area in voices known as the "passaggio," castrati , countertenors , the history of the tenor High C, and more. I know what you're thinking, "What in the world is passaggio ?" It's that area in the voice that transitions from the chest voice to head voice. What are chest and head voice? As Seth Rudeski demonstrates chest voice is more like your speaking voice and head voice is your voice that's higher then your normal speaking voice. A singer who provides a great (...