Cange’s Corner

I sit in the auditorium, on this Monday night, of the spectacular new Winspear Opera House that is now home to a rejuvenated Dallas Opera.  Although the company itself, like so many arts organizations these days, is struggling mightily in the budget arena, it has not stopped them from mounting…

So how does one experience a literal 48 hour Wednesday, and completely lose a Tuesday from their life? It's easy; just head "down-under" and come back really fast!! You see, I spent a magnificent, long weekend in Montgomery, Alabama (read previous post) working with some wonderfully talented and dedicated young…

As some of you know, in addition to my operatic performance career, I have spent the last four years establishing (by invitation) a small but growing vocal institute in Montgomery, Alabama; a city with which I have had a decades-long association.  As the Artistic Director of the Vann Vocal Institute…

As the city of Chicago sustains the crippling "Blizzard of 2011" (replete with thunder and lightning) on this February 1st, and I watch with delight from my large bank of living room windows in this truly Windy City tonight; my mind is wandering back to the sunny mid 70 degree…

For the faithful readers of my blog (and I DO thank you), and for the occasional visitors to it; I thought it might be fun to post a short missive on what really goes on in the wings of the stage and, in fact, on-stage or just behind the set…

When I was first starting off in the opera business, I remember being impressed when I heard that a fellow singer had just flown in from London, Paris, San Francisco, or New York.  So romantic it seemed; and I wondered if I would ever get the chance to be the…

The last three and a half weeks here at New York's Metropolitan Opera have been interesting, to say the least.  We have been busy staging Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, or technically speaking, "remounting" the production that was set forth some 20 years ago by sometimes "controversial" opera director Giancarlo…

On October 23 2010, the first of my two contracts with the Metropolitan Opera for this season came to an end.  The second contract is scheduled to begin on November 11 (the day after my birthday).  So when the curtain comes down for the last time in the run of…

As I hit the mid-performance schedule of The Tales of Hoffmann here at the Metropolitan Opera, I find myself gratified by the large audience turnout, as well as their enthusiasm for this current cast.  By all accounts, it is considered to be a better suited group than those represented last…

This post is dedicated to the hard working administrators who are often confronted with issues that they know they must address and correct; and to their credit, eventually do.  We artists thank you! Before we arrive to our first day of rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera, we receive a very…

As many of you know, my life in the performing arts, before settling into the operatic repertoire, was spent in the night club business:  The Catskills, The Poconos, Atlantic City, Miami Beach, and other showrooms up and down the Eastern Seaboard....when such showrooms and night clubs still existed and thrived. …

Once upon a time, during the 20th century's Golden Age of Singing (roughly the 1950's and 1960's, respectively), The Sitzprobe was a hallowed day on the operatic production schedule.  It was a day for the conductor, the singers, the chorus, and especially the orchestra, to all gather in a comfortable…