OPERA AMERICA 2005 CONFERENCE

The Opera America 2005 conference is taking place right here in MICHIGAN. Coooool. WOD is very, very happy.

Must talk about OPERA today

I find I must talk about OPERA today, and make sure to pepper this post with many references to OPERA, because apparently someone at Google isn't too clear that this is an OPERA site, and keeps rotating ads that feature that creepy guy who appears on television in a non-OPERATIC role wearing a suit with big question marks all over it. Yes, folks, he who-shall-not-be named for fear that the annoying ads will return. All because I interviewed an OPERA SINGER and wrote about it here and they share the same FIRST name.
So what happens when I announce the 2005-2006 concert appearance in Michigan by La Divins Renee Fleming?
I'm afraid, very afraid.

Hey world - Michigan Opera Theater has a NEW OPERA PRODUCTION opening soon - Margaret Garner. Yes, a Lot of ink has been spilled about this exciting new opera, but I'm here to remind you there are still tickets available.

Its showtime, folks!

Todays show will contain the oft-mentioned Matthew Polenzani interview, the new Turtle Island Quartet release, a CD giveaway and other treats (a Michigan concert announcement - La Divina Renee FLEMING, people!!). Join us, won't you? WHFR FM, 89.3 Dearborn, MI.
Internet stream at http://www.whfr.fm
10AM-1PM EST (-5 GMT)
:)

Russian Romantic opera arias on the radio player this week

So WOD is feeling particularly warm and romantic this week. Enjoy D. Hvorostovsky and Olga Borodina performing Russian romantic arias. The player is "below the fold" on your screen and to the right - it pops up so you can keep listening while you surf other sites.

Matthew Polenzani interview next Tuesday

I will be interviewing Metropolitan Opera tenor Matthew Polenzani on What's Opera, Doc next Tuesday April 26th. Please tune in at whfr.fm, we have an Internet stream.

I'm not a redhead

Radio hosts are notorious for hiding their identity. You've all heard the silky-smooth voice that turns out to be not so super-smooth in person? Or in my case, if you're female, you just don't want the stalkers calling the station, which they do. I've been getting a lot of hits from Waiter Rant because of a goofy post I made over there (hi to all the nurse fetishists out there)

So heres the truth - there is no truth in radioland or on the Internet, unless I decide there is.
No, thats not a picture of me, thats a still from an opera.
Les Contes D' Hoffmann, Venetian act, for those of you who care. About 12 bars from Scintille diamant, if you're using the Oeser version. WHICH YOU SHOULD BE DOING, DO IT RIGHT NOW. ESPECIALLY THE ONE WITH NEIL SHICOFF.

Yes, my voice is kinda low, I am a mezzo, after all, but the board does all those fancy tricks to make it sound sexy. And I spend most of the show saying saying things in a foreign language, which heightens the mystery, so to speak. But thats not really me, ok? Its all make-believe. It is opera, after all!

New music gremlins

Have been fixed. damn those little critters, anyway.
Grab bag o new music for ya'll - a small smapler of asst'd arias.
yes, I will be reviewing the Tsunami concert.
You can still donate here: Rotary International Solidarity in South Asia Fund
Dearborn Rotary, PO Box 2347, Dearborn, Mi 48123

NEWS: STOKIS BIRTHDAY WAS TODAY - tomorrow will be an all-Stoki day on What's Opera, Doc?

Tsunami relief using opera - come on out to Dearborn and see opera

Today, Sunday April 17th at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, MI 15801 Michigan Ave.
(across from the Glass House - if you don't know what that is, you either a: don't live in southeast Michigan or b: do live in Southeast Michigan, but are under a certain age)

They will be hosting a TSUNAMI VICTIMS BENEFIT PERFORMANCE at 4:30 PM today, featuring singers from Friends of the Opera, a local opera organization.

"A light program of arias, duets and quartets (guess that means no Rigoletto) from the worlds most famous and beloved operas"

I have seen their programs before and they tend to go heavy on Verdi.

Pre-concert music by harpist Kathleen Heise. The concert also features members of the Dearborn, Livonia, and Plymouth Symphony orchestras.

It is a free will donation, with all proceeds going to the Rotary Shelter Box Relief program, which provides temporary shelter for victims of the Tsunami.

(313) 943-3095 or www.DCACarts.org

Be there.

Matthew Polenzani - yeah!! Todays Met broadcast

Hi all-

Happy to announce (edited, cause I did bad research) Matthew Polenzani, is making his Met debut in the role of Tamino. (He has sung other roles there before, smaller ones) Mozarts' Die Zauberflote.
Yippee.
WOD is very happy.
WOD will be interviewing him Thurs. for a Tuesday broadcast, unless I go to Georgia. I'll keep you posted. eww...bad pun.

What's worse?

A - Blogger
B - continued Comcast outages
C - lack of liner notes

Today its all three. New music in the radio playerREMEMBER IT POPS UP so you can keep listening while you surf the Web. - Get thee some Stokowski there with the Tristan und Isolde Prelude to Act 3 - Good stuff!!! :)

Jessye Norman cancels

Ouch! WOD has just learned that Jessye Norman has cancelled her Detroit appearances in Margaret Garner at MOT, citing "personal reasons". The very talented Angela Brown will be stepping in to sing the role of Cilla.

the Met Opera braodcast today - Tosca

I normally don't do this, but feel compelled to comment - a truly, truly painful Vissi d'arte by AG today. As a card-carrying soprano, this should be standard rep. I heard wobble and a forced head and loss of breath at the end of phrases. ouch. I'll chalk it up to a bad day, but its too bad it was broadcast day this had to happen. :(

How to raise money the hard way

We have all lived through pledge drive week as listeners: tuning in to the favorite station, only to hear talking and not GOOD talking, such as when Dmitri is coming back to town to sing or the list of new releases by Sony Classical.

Nope, you're listening to pledge drive radio. "Your dollars mean so much to us..." "It's only $1 a week - you spend more than that on coffee".
Yep, you've heard it all. And if you were like me a few years ago, you race up and down the dial looking for any station with tolerable music that isn't having their fund drive this week. But then, thats only if you listen to public radio - if you listen to commercial radio, there is no hope for you, and I hope you enjoy the Monster truck rally.

But now, I'm a HOST, which means I actually have to come up with interesting things to say. FOR THREE HOURS. The rules are that you have to pledge plead after every song. You have to list the incentives, you have to read copy that sounds stilted on paper even more than it does coming out of your mouth. And hopefully you have help - people who can take over for you when:
your mouth is dry
you can't think of another thing to say
you've read the copy too many times

Now imagine doing this all alone, and that was my Tuesday. Now I have regular listeners (bless you, each and every one of you) so I had a few calls to break up the three hours. But due to poor planning on the part of our station mgmt., our fund drive ran the exact same week as all of our competitiors, so guaranteed slowdown of donations.

Bummer, bummer bummer. The music side of it was great - I played a lot of fun stuff, and actually got to mix it up quite a bit on air, which I usually don't do. I also found out I got on the listover at Sony Classical, so I will have lots of new music to add to the 80 or so CDs I still haven't finished reviewing yet.

:) You can still pledge here.

No new music yet

Hey folks, sorry I haven't updated the music yet.
I will also have a description of the chaos that ensues when radio stations conduct a pledge drive.

Keep classical music alive - donate to WHFR

whfr is having their annual Radiothon 2005. Please join me tomorrow morning, Tuesday, April 5th from 8AM-1PM while I host fun classical music selections (instrumental, opera, vocal and art songs) and hopefully collect donations from you, the listener. :) My show can be listened to live at www.whfr.fm
Yes, this is a blatant request for donation dollars, but hey, I am all there is in Detroit Michigan. 313-845-9676 ext. 1. Outside of Detroit? We have a toll-free number (800) 585-HFCC ext. 9676

I have the best job - My adventures in good television

Classical music lovers will recognize the title as a play on the old Karl Haas show, "Adventures In Good Music" . And so yesterday was an adventure, alright.
Before I start, I must give props to my WAY COOL JOB
who let me take off a large chunk of the day to do this when we were in the 11th hour of a very large project. Grazie. And hey, readers, you ever need a recording studio, CDs duplicated, or website programming/design/hosting, SoundQue is the place.

And so the adventure begins...
7AM - 2 hours of me running around doing hair/makeup, and taking client calls/emails at the same time. My gentleman friend was nice enough to come over to help me calm my nerves and give me a last look-over, although he is a Guy's guy, and at one point I kept thinking to myself - "I need a gay man here, stat!"
So I get on the road and go to the station - a lovely group of people, they had beverages, sandwiches (too nervous to eat) and hair/makeup supplies there so I could do a touch-up. How cool.
1:30PM - The "green room" was full of opera folks - some I knew, some I didn't, and the co-host of the show (since Michigan was the feature of this block of shows) was from MOT
and had actually appeared on WOD. She was very gracious and during the taping was commenting on how much fun it was to watch me at the station.
What they didn't tell me was that I was the featured guest for THE ENTIRE PROGRAM. 22 minutes of me - was the world really ready for this?
The host was wonderful - definitely an old pro, and they had the requisite cute-in-a-bland way cameraman who flirted and the hard as nails director. All in all, good stuff.
They popped a surprise on me - an opera quiz of all things. And I had to come up with the quiz question.
It is supposed to air in April and if I want a copy, I'll have to spring 10 bucks for it.
Maybe I can get BFE to tape it for me, since she lives in the only city who seems to care about opera in Metro Detroit. And she's in Flint, so what does THAT tell ya?