Sounds of Learning

This week on Opera-Online we pay tribute to one of America's greatest singers, Shirley Verrett who passed away late last week at the age of 79. She was internationally regarded as a dynamic singing actress. Her voice was not just beautiful, but was amazingly powerful and her technique was impeccable. Ms. Verrett achieved recognition as one of the world's great artist. Born into a devout Seventh-day Adventists family in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1931, Ms. Verrett was raised in Los Angeles, California. She sang in church and showed early musical abilities, but initially a singing career was frowned upon by her family. Later she went on to study at the Juilliard School in New York and won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1961. Ms. Verrett's rare combination of vocal gifts, unequaled presence, and elegant style has made her a star at the world's great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the B...

This week we honor National Opera Week - a week long celebration of the art form sponsored by OPERA America , a national service organization. The Opera Company of Philadelphia celebrated National Opera Week with a series of events launched by a massive public performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah . Over 650 singers from almost 30 organizations descended on Macy's in Center City Philadelphia to sing this well-known and well-loved favorite, accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ . With over 28,000 pipes, it's the world's largest pipe organ! It launches the Opera Company of Philadelphia's collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Random Acts of Culture initiative which is dedicated to producing 1,000 random acts over the next three years. VIDEO CLIPS OF THE WEEK: In honor of National Opera Week and Random Acts of Culture, we showcase the Opera Company of Philadelphia's two random acts. The Hallelujah Chorus from Oct...

This week we'll meet tenor Jason Collins who sings the role of Cassio, who Iago suspects of being Desdemona's lover. We'll also pay tribute to the legendary Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland who passed away on Sunday, October 10th at the age of 83. Meet tenor Jason Collins This week our website of the week belongs to the Opera Company of Philadelphia's, but only because we want to direct you to a 4-part interview conducted by students from schools in Kentucky, Lancaster, the Poconos, and Montgomery County and OCP's Director of Community Programs, Michael Bolton, at MAGPI's studios in Philadelphia. Jason was born in South Carolina and educated at The Julliard School in New York City and at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He talked his role in Otello, about what it's like to be a singer, how he discovered his voice, got his start in his career, prepares a role, and much, much more. Below is PART ONE of the 4-part interview with Jason Coll...

IT'S OPENING NIGHT AT THE OPERA COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA! The Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Verdi's Otello opens tonight with a gala celebration of the Company's 35th Anniversary. Some of you may attended the final dress rehearsal of the opera this past Wednesday and saw star baritone Mark Delevan performing in a wheelchair. Mark hurt his knee during rehearsal and had to undergo surgery yesterday afternoon. The surgery was very successful and Mark plans to perform the opera tonight from his wheelchair! Mark and the entire cast, chorus and Company members joined together on the stage of the Academy of Music to sing Happy Birthday to the Opera Company of Philadelphia. See if you can recognize any of the performers in our video clip of the week! VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK: Also, if your went to the Student Dress Rehearsal of Otello on Wednesday, we need student feedback! Just visit this page to leave your comments about the opera. Your comments should inc...

Students in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's Sounds of Learning program saw the final dress rehearsal of Verdi's Otello on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at the Academy of Music. Inspired by Shakespeare, Otello tells the story of a slave who overcomes great obstacles to become a noble general, but is then driven to unspeakable jealousy by a scheming, envious officer in his army. Passion, political intrigue and a fatal flaw are at the center of this intense musical drama that stands at the pinnacle of grand opera experiences. Now that you've studied the opera and seen it, what were your impressions? Tell us what you think and post your reviews here! Did you like the opera and why? Which was your favorite character and why? Did you like the costumes and sets? What did you think of Mark Delavan, who sang Iago from a wheelchair? Who had the best and most impressive singing voice? Your review should be at least 50 words or more. Please include your first name, school and ...

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 (...

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online. As we are between seasons at the Opera Company of Philadelphia I thought I would spend the next few weeks taking about the different voice types beginning this week with Sopranos! I will be adding on an additional aspect to the blog during this summer session titled “The Documentary” where we will be viewing a seven part BBC documentary What Makes a Great Tenor? The great tenor Rolando Villazon takes us inside the world of the sexiest and most risky of all operatic voices. It's a journey which includes some of the great names of the past, such as Caruso and Lanza, and some of the brightest stars performing today, like Domingo, Alagna and Florez. We hear how they tackle their most famous roles and what the risks and rewards are! The Documentary What Makes a Great Tenore? - Part 1 Website of the week There are five main Categories of Soprano - Coloratura, Soubrette, Lyric, Spinto and Dramatic sopranos. Find out more about The Soprano ...

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online. You Tube Clip of the Week Star Spangled Banner Movietone 1944 World War 2 News Reel with Merrill Miller , American operatic baritone. Website of the week With the 4th of July just around the corner I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce you to usopera.com , a web resource dedicated to opera by American composers. Opera has been a part of American musical life for over 150 years, but only today are American works beginning to recieve the recognition they deserve. To learn more about American opera, click here . Opera on Air On Saturday, July 3rd at 1pm WRTI Radio will broadcast the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Hector Berlioz's La damnation de Faust conducted by Sir Andrew Davis starring Paul Groves as Faust, Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Méphistophélès. Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, ...

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online. I hope you all enjoyed Orphée et Eurydice last week. Remember to post your reviews online and let us know what you thought of the opera! We're going to finish up with Orphée et Eurydice this week, taking a last look at the composer and the ballet section of the opera. You Tube Clip of the Week We'll see a performance of the famous Dance of the Blessed Spirits which opens the second act of the opera. In this brief ballet, the spirits dance serenely in the Elysian Fields in the Underworld. This clip is from a production of Orpheus and Eurydice at the Palais Garnier in Paris in 2008. How is the choreography different or the same from the choreography you saw in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production? Website of the week Lets look at the man behind the music; Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (1714-1787). He was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gl...

Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts 7:00 p.m. Students in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's Sounds of Learning program saw the final dress rehearsal of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice on Tuesday, June15, 2010 at the Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Orphée et Eurydice is the profound story of loss and love that has inspired thousands of works of art since the time of the ancient Greeks. Now that you've studied the opera and seen it, what were your impressions? Tell us what you think and post your reviews here! Did you like the opera and why? Which was your favorite character and why? Did you like the costumes and sets? Who had the best and most impressive singing voice? Your review should be at least 50 words or more. Please include your first name, home school or organization name and grade in your post. JOIN OUR OPERA EMAIL LIST! Email education@operaphila.org and we...