Croatia - Opera beyond the postcard
Opera Road Trip
In this episode of Opera Road Trip, host Sebastian F. Schwarz turns to Croatia as a revealing case study for the operatic realities of smaller European countries. Blessed with one of the most striking Mediterranean coastlines and internationally known cities such as Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia attracts nearly five times as many visitors each year as it has inhabitants. Yet this global visibility is highly seasonal and geographically concentrated — while the country’s operatic infrastructure functions largely inland, year-round, and far from the tourist gaze. The episode argues that...
info_outline
Singing competitions - Has the jury reached a verdict?
Opera Road Trip
In this episode of Opera Road Trip, host Sebastian Schwarz turns the spotlight from national operatic traditions to a crucial gateway for emerging artists: singing competitions. Against the backdrop of increasingly opaque casting processes, the episode explores why competitions continue to play a decisive — and controversial — role in operatic careers today. Schwarz is joined by key figures from some of Europe’s most influential competitions, including Beata Klatka (Stanisław Moniuszko International Vocal Competition, Warsaw), Lars Flaaten (Queen Sonja Singing Competition, Oslo), and...
info_outline
Toast au champagne - Opera in Vienna
Opera Road Trip
Opera Road Trip is Operavision’s new two-year podcast series, a journey through the 17 countries that currently partner with OperaVision, discovering their operatic history and current relationship with the artform, and meeting along the way young talents finding their voice and seasoned professionals who have devoted their lives to the stage, discovering the diverse paths that have led them to opera and the enduring belief in its relevance, past, present, and future. Opera Road Trip’s fourth episode is dedicated to opera in Vienna. We hear from Kristine Tornquist and Jury Everhartz,...
info_outline
The Three Mezzos - Opera in Ireland
Opera Road Trip
Opera Road Trip is Operavision’s new two-year podcast series, a journey through the 17 countries that currently partner with OperaVision, discovering their operatic history and current relationship with the artform, and meeting along the way young talents finding their voice and seasoned professionals who have devoted their lives to the stage, discovering the diverse paths that have led them to opera and the enduring belief in its relevance, past, present, and future. Opera Road Trip’s third episode is dedicated to opera in Ireland. We hear from Rosetta Cucchi, Artistic Director of...
info_outline
Slava Ukraini - Opera in Ukraine
Opera Road Trip
Opera Road Trip’s second episode is dedicated to opera in Ukraine. We hear from Anna Gadetzka, program direction of Open Opera Ukraine about creating alternatives to the state-run opera factories; from Vasyl Vovkun, director of the Lviv National Opera, Bogdan Strutynsky, director of the National Operetta of Ukraine and Galyna Grygorenko, first deputy minister of culture of Ukraine, about the country’s operatic heritage and repertoire and about the current challenges of running opera companies. To learn more about opera in Ukraine, visit OperaVision.eu features work from its five Ukrainian...
info_outline
First stop: Italia
Opera Road Trip
Opera Road Trip is Operavision’s new two-year podcast series, a journey through the 17 countries that currently partner with OperaVision, discovering their operatic history and current relationship with the artform, and meeting along the way young talents finding their voice and seasoned professionals who have devoted their lives to the stage, discovering the diverse paths that have led them to opera and the enduring belief in its relevance, past, present, and future. Opera Road Trip’s first episode is, dutifully, dedicated to opera in Italy. We hear from Danila Grassi, a young...
info_outline
Oper Frankfurt: becoming an extraordinary artist
Opera Road Trip
In the final episode of this Next Generation series, we ask two experts working at Oper Frankfurt to share their understanding of the challenges facing young artists entering a programme. From the shock of that first time on the main stage, to finding a common language when it comes to technique, and finally allowing the personality to really shine through, Felice Venanzoni and Hedwig Fassbender offer candid advice on all aspects of nurturing operatic talent with sensitivity and respect. Watch now on OperaVision with Leonardo Sanchez from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts...
info_outline
Rossini Opera Festival: walking a tightrope
Opera Road Trip
This month, we’re joined by young artists Chiara Boccabella and Francesco Leone in the run up to the Accademia Rossiniana Alberto Zedda this summer. They share thoughts on preparing for auditions (the key lies in character!), and how exactly to bring lightness and joy to singing Rossini so that it feels (almost) effortless. Watch now on OperaVision with Leonardo Sanchez from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for the Paul Hindemith Orchestra Academy Music Extracts all from Rossini's Il Viaggio a...
info_outline
Palau de les Arts: looking to the future
Opera Road Trip
This month, we are back with our emerging artists from Palau de les Arts in Valencia, where we discover how steady and slow is the key to vocal progression, how going beyond your comfort zone is necessary when hustling for work, and which key elements to take from a programme into the professional world. Mezzo-soprano Laura Orueta takes her first professional steps and soprano Iria Goti looks ahead to her final stretch in Valencia and life beyond. Music Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture I Hate Music; Tavouk Guenksis;...
info_outline
Oper Frankfurt: survival tactics for young artists
Opera Road Trip
This month, we’re back at Oper Frankfurt following up with our four young artists, where juggling roles and dealing with vocal fatigue are part of life at the height of a busy season. Our singers share stories of setting boundaries, juggling repertoire, and how sometimes saying no is essential to protecting both vocal and mental health. Featuring sopranos Nombulelo Yende and Clara Hyoyoung Kim, mezzo-soprano Helene Feldbauer, and baritone Jarrett Porter. Watch now on Opera Vision from Young Artists at the Palau de les Arts from Oper Frankfurt on audition training for...
info_outlineFor many artists there are barriers that go much deeper than the gender binary, but how can we ensure people of every gender have real access and are genuinely welcomed in the opera world? Trailblazing American baritone Lucia Lucas reveals the highs and lows of inhabiting a role close to her heart; Lili Elbe at the Theater St. Gallen, about the eponymous painter who was the first person to have gender confirmation surgery in the 1930s. Meanwhile, Spanish director, designer and visual artist Marta Pazos explores the world of intersexuality through her production of Alexina B at the Gran Teatre del Liceu In Barcelona; she shares how she brought the story of Herculine Barbin vividly to life.
Additional voiceovers by Celia Grau
Translation supervised by Joan Soley
View the OperaVision website here
Watch now on Opera Vision
Lili Elbe by composer Tobias Picker & librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman
Oper Frankfurt documentary From Studio to Stage
Il Viaggio a Reims (Rossini), Rossini Opera Festival Accademia Rossiniana
Masterclass with Sarah Connolly
More here about Alexina B
Music extracts
Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture
All other extracts from Lili Elbe Theater St. Gallen featuring baritone Lucia Lucas, soprano Sylvia D’Eramo and bass Msimelelo Mbali