Beninese Appetizer PEANUT SAUCE INGREDIENTS 1 small tomato 1 small onion 2 tablespoons peanut oil 1½ tablespoons chili powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cube MaggiTM beef bouillon* 1 cup water 10 tablespoons smooth peanut butter…
Stage Directors The average opera has several principal singers, a few comprimario singers (opera speak for bit players), a chorus and sometimes dancers. Some supernumeraries might also be hired to carry big stuff, sit or…
Conductor, noun (kǝn dǝk tǝr): A musician who plays no instrument, yet always gets top billing. Train Wreck, noun (trān rek): In ensemble music, the condition that results when one of the players or singers…
This is going to be long. There is just too much here to laugh at: Sopranos and Mezzo-Sopranos I used to have a wonderful vocal coach who, when she heard me say something that she…
Tenors Yes, tenors get their own chapter. You’ll see why. Tenors and sopranos are natural enemies, passionate lovers or both. Whatever the state of the relationship, it is never dull. Tenors are the rock stars…
There was a time in the history of opera when singers ruled. If you had a great voice, it wouldn’t matter if you looked like a gorilla. You were in. Stage directors would never dare…
The So-Called Life of an Opera Singer Life upon the wicked stage ain’t nothin’ for a girl. Ellie in Jerome Kern’s and Oscar Hammerstein II’s musical Show Boat* People outside “The Business” are fascinated when…
THE FRENCH AND THE RUSSIANS Once everybody else saw that the Italians had come up with a Good Thing, other countries wanted to get in on it. I already covered the Germans in an earlier…
DEATH, OPERATIC STYLE In most operas, somebody dies. Usually it’s the hero or the heroine, or both of them. Occasionally, someone else will get in on the act, too, not wanting to be left out…
Those Crazy Germans In my last lesson, I mentioned opera plots and how they are reminiscent of lurid cable TV channels that specialize in re-enacted crimes. As an example, I gave the plot of Verdi’s…
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