You know how you might see yourself in a photo and think, “Gee I look horrible” and put it away only to find it years later and think, “Wow! I looked pretty good back then?” Thursday evening I was driving the two-hour route back home from a day of teaching in San Francisco when I… Continue Reading
Tuesday November 5, 2024 3:15 pm
FANFAIRE celebrates CLASSICAL MUSIC!
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Category Archives: classical music
Opera for the New World
Opera is in effect sung theater. Opera, like theater, can be thought-provoking, historical, educational and a reflection of our society. Historically is has been used as a commentary on contemporary life. I would encourage many opera novices to look into the historical context of some of the works in the operatic cannon of over 200… Continue Reading
Risë Stevens: A Brief Tribute
The first eleven years of my life were spent in suburban Philadelphia in Springfield, Delaware County, to be exact. We were one of the working class families living in the numerous identical, small, brick houses of the cul-de-sac. In our living room we had a rather wide, two door, dark wood console that housed a… Continue Reading
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A REFLECTION ON MY LIFE AS A BOY
When I was age 13 and 14, I made quilts. I was taught by a woman from the mountains of Maryland at the Catoctin Folk Crafts Center in the national park where we lived and for which my father worked. (I was also taught to spin wool into yarn and make candles. More importantly I… Continue Reading
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THE MOZART EFFECT
I have been at a loss lately as to what I might write about. Writing is not a daily activity for me since I wear a lot of hats, so I normally wait for that Eureka moment. Last night, on stage at the Pacific Symphony performance of the Mozart Requiem in Costa Mesa, I had… Continue Reading
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The “Light Bulb” Moment
Bear with me. I am a little jetlagged. I just returned to my hotel after visiting the Prado museum in Madrid. I am here this week to sing the role of Mary in the quasi-oratorio L’enfance du Christ (infancy of Christ) by Hector Berlioz. In years past I would make, at the very least, ten… Continue Reading
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The High Notes of Patriotism
Driving four days across the western United States affords one little writing time but much thinking time. July fourth came and went during that drive. Now that I am settled in one place I can put fingers to the keyboard. I have some musings, albeit two weeks late. Four years ago on one of my… Continue Reading
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My Mother’s Voice
Since Mother’s Day I have been reflecting on my singing career and motherhood. Prior to Sunday my memories where more of my late mother, who herself was born with a gorgeous operatic voice. I knew she sang some as an alto in church choir and the Mendelssohn Society in Philly. I remember sitting in church… Continue Reading
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Blood and Other Hazards of Opera
by SUSANNE MENTZER The other evening as I got out of my car here at my temporary quarters, I got a lot of weird looks from passersby. I just could not figure out what was so intriguing (“Take a picture it lasts longer!”). It had been a long day and my dog Charlie met me… Continue Reading
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Define ‘Charity,’ Define ‘Humanity’
On his April 27 broadcast of “Real Time” on HBO, while challenging whether the Mormon Church is a charity, Bill Maher told viewers that donating to the arts also does not qualify as charitable giving. He brought up the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and how people who give to it get tax… Continue Reading
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