The new Life Stories chamber opera by Tim Benjamin: easily digestible music, poignant human interest, or both?

Taylor Wilson as Silent Jack; photo credit Radius Music

The ever-talented Taylor Wilson (mezzo-soprano) invited me to review Tim Benjamin's new chamber opera double bill, Life Stories, at The Place in central London this week. The results were intriguing.

Opera, the Undoing of Women - A book review

Opera, the Undoing of Women by Catherine Clément is still the foremost work on the inherent an latent misogyny in the beloved operas across the centuries. The book is written like a traditional opera guide, with short but insightful vignettes for each featured opera, which ranges from Turandot, to The Magic Flute, to the Ring cycle. This book was recommended to me by Alexandra Wilson (@amwilson_opera on Twitter - go follow her, seriously!), and it was one of the best recommendations I have ever received. 

iTunes Festival, September 30th: Placido Domingo and Friends

I was lucky enough to score tickets to this gig last night, which took place at the Roundhouse in Camden - and friends, what a gig it was. Holy moly.

Opera Australia Was Right to Sack Her

Photo Credit: TamarIveri.com

This morning, I woke up early and found a host of think pieces playing devil's advocate, asking if maybe her termination was too mean. Here's why all that misses the mark.

It's more than Homophobia - it's Bigotry

Tamara Iveri in Masked Ball photo: Prudence Upton

The news of Georgian opera singer Tamara Iveri's homophobic Facebook rant has gone viral, well outside of the opera and classical music community. But was her rant just homophobic, or something more?

Words on the Rosenkavalier Debacle from a Self-Proclaimed Fat Singer

Me, circa 2011, as a dead opera singer in the musical Ghosts. Please excuse the duck face.

I am a fat singer. I am 5'10" and I my weight has fluctuated between 210 and 270 pounds. Here's why the Tara Erraught Rosenkavalier critic situation matters to me on a personal level.

Body Shaming and Misogyny from Rupert Christiansen

Photo courtesy: the Telegraph

Today, prolific and well-known reviewer and critic for the Telegraph, Rupert Christiansen, released an article on Glyndebourne's production of Rosenkavalier, and oh, is it a train wreck rife with body shaming and misogyny.

New Music Wednesdays: "Union Square Station," by Dale Trumbore

Today's piece of music will resonate with you...literally. The dark rumbles in the piano's lower register seem to be directly connected with your heart beat, and the soaring soprano line sounds like a bird flying south for the winter. See what Dale Trumbore has to say about the piece:

Francesca Caccini Vs. Brodude Music Historians

Francesca Caccini, image courtesy TheFamousPeople.com

Usually when one hears the name Caccini, the first composer you think of is Giulio Caccini, author of a famous musical treaty and member of the esteemed Florentine Camerata, a group of scholars and philosophers that included the likes of Vincenzo Galilei, father of the excommunicated astronomer Galileo Galilei. In fact, Giulio's daughter Francesca was also a likely member of this secretive club, though the fact of her gender precluded her from the official guest list.

Weekly Music News Roundup - Week Ending April 5th, 2014

It's finally April - the monsoon season of the northern hemisphere. With spring tidings comes music festival news, announcements, and gigs galore. Take a look:

-M.I.A and Janelle Monae are set to do a bi-coastal hologram concert and usher us into the 21st century. I feel like I'm living in Back to the Future! (Source)

-David Byrne asks an important question: Can musicians make a living off of streaming services?

-United Music Publishers has entered liquidation: a sad day for music. (Source)

-Song of the Lark's Emily Hogstad gives crucial and thorough coverage of the continued Minnesota Symphony troubles here.

-Sally Whitwell has a Pinterest account dedicated to women composers, and it is amazing. (Link)

-Violin legend Itzhak Perlman received terrible treatment by Air Canada at the Toronto airport - they left him to carry his own luggage and violin, even though he made his disability clear. (Source)

-The Sphinx competition for young Latino and Black musicians seeks to break the glass ceiling or traditional orchestras, and it is the most beautiful thing I've seen all week. (Source)

-The Guardian published a brief but accurate article about the state of whiteness in orchestras.

-There is a new app to create ambient music by waving your hands at your Mac, and I think it's safe to say that we all desperately need it. (Source)




That's the news for this week, check back every Friday for more current events in music! If you know of a story that needs some publicity, you can contact me on Twitter @AngelinaPanozzo or through my website, AngelinaPanozzo.com. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!

Women In Music - the Jennifer Rowley Interview!

How exciting - I got to interview Jennifer Rowley the day after her debut as Musetta in La Boheme at the Met in New York! We discuss music, opera, being a boss, and her rise to the top! Take a listen in the media player on the sidebar, or look up the Women In Music podcast on iTunes!

Musically Notable Weekly Digest, Week ending March 8th

Greetings and Happy Friday! I was actually able to go outside without a coat today, so it would seem that Spring is within our grasp! Here are the top stories of this week:

• Brainpickings.org wrote a piece on how to bust through writer's block!

• Brandon Nelson wrote a great overview of Franz Liszt on the Polonious Sheet Music blog.

• The American Academy of Arts and Letters have pieced Charles Ives' music studio back together, and the results are fantastic. (Source)

• Reports of opera's death have been greatly exaggerated: (Source)

• Manuela Hoelterhoff gives her opinions on the Met - (Source)

• NPR reports that Robert Ashley,the  innovative opera composer, died March 3rd.

• Spotify has purchased Echo Nest, a company that specializes in music recommendations. (Source)

• Scientists have identified a condition called "musical anhedonia" which can cause some people to be indifferent to music. (Source)

• Mamoru Samuragochi, the composer who faked a disability and used a ghost writer for 20 years, made his first public appearance since the scandal broke, has apologized.

Here you have it, this week's biggest and best stories in music. Stop by every weekend for your Musically Notable digest! If you have a story or a project that deserves mentioning, please submit your ideas to me on Twitter @AngelinaPanozzo or through my website, AngelinaPanozzo.com. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!

White Supremacy in Music

Black History Month tends to elicit a wide range of emotions in the United States - one look at Twitter's trending tags will show you that many people still don't understand why we have a month dedicated to Black History. "What about WHITE history month?" they ask. Well, what about it? The simple fact is, 11 months out of the year is our white history month. History classes from kindergarten through university focus on white history - North American and European history, to be exact. Many of us never learn about any African history at all (except the colonized areas, of course), even though the continent of Africa grossly dwarfs North America and Europe. I'm sure some of us remember a few notable characters in Black History: Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King, Jr.  - but compare that against the army of white folks in history, and the representation is nowhere near equal. Some ignorant people will try to argue that its because Black people simply didn't have as much to contribute to society, but anyone who has ever been part of a marginalized group knows how untrue that is. As a part of a marginalized group, you just don't get the same opportunities to succeed.

Even in 2014, 45 years after the civil rights movement, orchestras are still overwhelmingly white. When you consider that inner-city schools rarely have music programs, the absence of black talent in classical music isn't surprising. When you also consider the lingering racism in many opera houses, it isn't a shock that most of the top-billing singers are white. Can you remember the last time you saw a black conductor? In my entire musical career, singing and working with a wide variety of ensembles, I cannot recall a single black conductor. In a quick Google search on "Black conductor," the first result is an article about the gifted conductor, Kwamè Ryan - from 10 YEARS ago. The most relevant search result is from a decade  ago, and it quotes him as saying that he doesn't have hope for the future, because the seeds of interest aren't being planted in the minds of black kids; those same kids are the ones going to schools that don't have music programs. Even when high-risk schools do have music teachers, many times those teachers have never studied music and get shuffled around from school to school. Though studies have shown time after time that music education and performing in ensembles increases SAT scores, eligibility for higher education via grades and scholarships, and decreases student crime, somehow music is always first on the chopping block in these poor districts that are barely surviving with charter schools cannibalizing their students for the for-profit companies that run them.

It is  arguable that the genres in which Black people have more avenues to success are the popular ones: jazz, pop, and rap. Even as such, white artists continue to appropriate Black culture and happily accept the accolades that show just how "progressive" they are, even as they recite hollow speeches that completely ignore the culture they are stealing from. It didn't start with Elvis, but he serves as a good example - emulating Black culture earned him fame and fortune, because he was a "safe" white man. Audiences have always loved the beats and groove of Black music, but many couldn't look past their ingrained racism and listen to Black artists.

 Many people will say their dislike of rap music stems from the misogyny and descriptions of crime in the lyrics, but don't realize that rap in its original form was about fighting the system that oppressed them. It wasn't until record labels wanted to draw in white audiences that artists started releasing albums full of the stereotypes of abusers and drug dealers that so many white people have been raised to believe are the absolute truth. Many of these same people who dislike Black artists for their misogyny are quick to praise Eminem, whose lyrics I find far more offensive than most Black rappers'. Then we of course have Macklemore, who tweeted a picture of his text to Kendrick Lamar, saying that he didn't deserve the Grammy he'd been given, probably in some attempt to appear progressive and gracious. Macklemore is a poseur of the utmost degree - raking in cash from the oppressed groups while retaining his shining straight white male privilege.

Miley Cyrus is another example of appropriation, with her twerking fiasco at the 2013 MTV VMAs. I don't really care what she was wearing, it was the deliberate sexualization and de-personification of her Black back-up dancers that left a sour taste in my mouth. What made that sour taste turn to bile was when multiple news sources alleged that Cyrus had invented twerking, when it has been a staple of Black artists since before she was born. She repeatedly makes statements about how she isn't racist - but having racist attitudes is more than burning crosses and white hoods.

That is the real crux of the problem, isn't it? We aren't taught in schools that 76% of scholarship recipients are white. We aren't taught about lynching. We aren't taught about African culture and history. Not about Black inventors and scientists, and not about Black musicians either. We learn about Mozart and Beethoven, but the portraits and photographs of Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington are absent from many textbooks. We don't learn that racism is so much more than outright violence and segregated bathrooms. Its ingrained stereotypes, passed down from parents, teachers, and media. Racism keeps Black kids out of music programs and Black adults out of orchestras and opera halls. Racism is when white musicians get Grammys for appropriating Black culture, and no Black people are even nominated.

In order for things to improve, those of us with white privilege need to step up, own our privilege, and use it to continue dismantling the idioms in society that prevent Black people from succeeding in music. This isn't about feeling guilty or shaming white people for being white. This isn't about "reverse racism," which by the way isn't even a real thing, and it certainly isn't about your feelings. Its about recognizing a glaring schism in the opportunities that are afforded, and correcting that imbalance. Its about realizing that racism still exists, its still a problem, and it is absolutely still affecting us today, in 2014.

Don't you think its time we took a stand? Don't you think we should still be fighting for equality?

I do.

Opera Post - The Flower Duet from Lakme, by Leo Delibes

Hello again faithful followers! Today I am going to review and discuss the very famous and well-known (you've heard it, I promise) Flower Duet from the opera, Lakme.