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CD Review: Mario Lanza - Opera Arias & Duets

Mario Lanza is one of those voices who appealed to the ears of those whose tastes did not necessarily include opera. I remember this being the case for many of my relatives, each of whom shared with me his or her first experience of having heard his voice. The compilation CD "Opera Arias & Duets" is a series of popular operatic pieces from the better known operas in Lanza's day.

Book Review: How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously

About a month and a half ago, I looked at my financial picture and got
angry. I was angry with �the system�, angry at myself for making some
very bad choices and angry at the future I pictured for myself, because
I saw no legitimate way out. Then a dear friend of mine sent me this
book as a gift. She had been in a similar position and used the methods
the book describes to lift herself out of the mire of debt. It was the
equivalent of throwing a drowning swimmer a large and easily reachable
life preserver.

The Twelve Days of Rejections

Since this is the holiday season, I wanted to write something about the holidays. It�s a little late
to talk about getting holiday work and we�ve already been through
the fall audition season and all it entails� well, not quite all it
entails. Any singer can tell you that the fall and winter applications
are inevitably followed by letters of rejection, many of them exquisitely
timed to arrive about ten minutes after you thought you were over that
opera company and just in time to spoil whatever fun you were planning
to have...

Tone Emission & Attack (Tetrazzini)

IN my first talk I said a few words, but not half enough, on the subject of breath control. My second talk was the physiological aspect of the throat, head and tongue, for it is necessary to become thoroughly acquainted with the mechanism with which you are to work before you can really sing. Today I�m going to take up the subject of tone emission and the attack.

A Soprano Weekend

A great compilation of some of the most well known arias for soprano, with amazing singers.

What the Fach

The Definitive Guide for Opera Singers Auditioning and Working in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
by Philip Shepard

On Being a Professional Singer

Welcome to the wonderful world of professional performing. It�s time to pay your initiation fees and dues. Don�t worry, we�ve automatically charged them to your credit card. You�ll be spending the rest of your life in debt, so you might as well start getting used to it now.

Learning New Roles

If you're a singer with a lot of time on your hands, you might as well start learning some new roles. It beats staring at the walls until they start talking back to you (shut up! you don't know anything about it, you stupid wall!) When I was a baby singer-weed, I figured that learning new roles was a good way to fill up my resume with something more substantial than scenes and that it might even help me get hired...

Recording Advice For Singers (by Notacoach)

Everybody wants a great recording of themselves, right? Well, these days, thanks to the new generation of "point and shoot" digital recorders, it's easier and easier to get one yourself. A handheld will likely never replace a studio recording mastered by an expert engineer any more than a snapshot will replace a quality session with a professional photographer, but in the same way you CAN get good pictures yourself, you can now get great recordings, too.

Book Review: Cinderella & Company, by Cecilia Bartoli

At first glance, the title (Cinderella & Company: Backstage at the Opera with Cecilia Bartoli) seems to suggest a rather unflinching focus on La Bartoli lies within, but don't be fooled: This book is just as much about her colleagues, predecessors, and--well--company.