It’s hard to research anything much in opera without encountering Winton Dean, who wrote many a wise word in his time, mainly on Handel. Imagine our delight here at English Opera Singers, therefore, to discover a meaty comparison of the original play and Verdi’s operatic setting, in an essay on “Shakespeare in Opera”. Frankly, to […]
One of the challenges facing our cast at English Opera Singers is how exactly to portray our characters in a concert version of this opera. After all, you don’t have the benefit of scenery or costumes, or indeed a director as such. However, we think this is actually a real virtue, because we can base […]
At English Opera Singers, we’ve been doing a little research into the ‘real’ Macbeth, and it’s no surprise to discover that Shakespeare almost completed created the story from mere fragments of fact. Mind you, since every biopic film these days seems to do the same, i.e. ‘based on a story’, we guess the Bard was […]
The team here at English Opera Singers HQ have just come across a wonderful article written by Miles Kington for The Independent back in 2002*, which aims to answer one of our most burning operatic questions… If Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is superstitiously called by performers “the Scottish play” in order to avoid the use of […]
Opera singers are often used to add captivating sounds as well as deeper symbolism to many of the films we enjoy. Simple recall some of your favorite films and browse through how many of them feature some lady singing opera through one scene or another. Happens more often than you thought, correct? The classic Benjamin…
Any Australian you ask would probably tell you that the Opera House is among the most interesting places you could visit in the country. We take a look at some of the most fascinating facts about the Australian Attraction in Sydney and what makes it so popular among tourists. Who designed it? John Utzon did.…