Living Opera

Here is a fascinating collection of 20 wide-ranging interviews with the preeminent opera singers, conductors, directors, and designers working on and behind the stage today. In Living Opera, Joshua Jampol invites opera-lovers to listen in as performers such as Renee Fleming, Natalie Dessay, Rolando Villazon and Placido Domingo speak in exceptionally frank terms about their strengths and weaknesses and address such hard-hitting topics as how they deal with critics, vocal troubles, and balancing their career and family lives. We hear conductors such as James Conlon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Kent Nagano discuss their likes and dislikes about the state of contemporary opera, their own inspirations, whom they hope to inspire, and how opera can remain relevant today. World-class directors such as Robert Carsen and Patrice Chereau discuss the complexities involved in staging a successful opera. Jampol has unprecedented access to all the major singers, conductors, and directors, and the table of contents reads like a "who's who" of the global opera world. Each interview highlights a distinctive voice speaking about his or her career path, first break, colleagues, major influences, audiences, critics and all the diverse professions making up the emotional and extravagant world of the lyric arts. Jampol brings immense knowledge and a wonderful flair to these conversations, allowing his subjects to follow their thoughts wherever they lead and revealing in the process a more intimate, reflective side of such stars as Pierre Boulez, William Christie, Joyce DiDonato, Seiji Ozawa, Samuel Ramey, and many others. For anyone wanting to know more about the people behind the performances--what they think, how they feel, and who they really are--Living Opera is full of delights and surprises. He's a skilful interviewer who deftly captures the personalities of his subjects. Classic FM Magazine Valuable and vital for the insights it offers into both the process and production of opera ... Living Opera leaves a vivid impression that the form is fired by passion, dedication, imagination, and, often, personal sacrifice. Michael Quinn, Classical MusicACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; PREFACE ; PIERRE BOULEZ, OR "THE INCORRUPTIBLE"; ROBERT CARSEN, OR BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN HEAD AND HEART; PATRICE CHEREAU, OR TRUTH, OPERA AND THE DIRECTOR: IN WAGNER'S FOOTSTEPS; WILLIAM CHRISTIE, OR GOING FOR BAROQUE; JAMES CONLON, OR SURRENDERING YOUR SOUL; NATALIE DESSAY, OR HEALING THE SICK VOICE; JOYCE DIDONATO, OR THE WIDER CONNECTION; PLACIDO DOMINGO, OR OLYMPICS FOR THE VOICE; RENEE FLEMING, OR BALANCING ON THE HIGH WIRE; FERRUCCIO FURLANETTO, OR FUNCTIONING AS A FILTER; KASPER BECH HOLTEN, OR THE EMOTIONAL FITNESS CENTER; SIMON KEENLYSIDE, OR A WORKINGMAN TALKS ABOUT TRAFFIC CONTROL; WALTRAUD MEIER, OR THE SWEATSHIRT MUST FIT; HEIDI GRANT MURPHY, OR SOPRANOED - WITH CHILDREN; KENT NAGANO, OR REMAINING RELEVANT; SEIJI OZAWA, OR THE ART OF MANAGING THE ORCHESTRA; SAMUEL RAMEY, OR THE LION AT TWILIGHT; ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, OR NEW OPERA AND FESTIVAL OPERA; JOSE VAN DAM, OR HUMILITY, THE ELITE AND THE CADDIES; ROLANDO VILLAZON, OR THE PARADOX OF THE PERFORMER ; INDEX