Opera Singing in Germany and other adventures....

Recently, I had the opportunity to see a YouTube video of Renee Fleming singing this great aria written by Erich Korngold found here , and I remembered that a while ago there was an often-whispered-about Masterclass given by Ms. Fleming (her first ever!) at The Juilliard School.  And, I remember hearing that only Juilliard students were invited to attend this Masterclass. That got me to wondering, why couldn't any old person attend this hugely-touted event?  Apart from the fact that there wouldn't be enough room for everyone who wanted to attend, why didn't they at least sell overpriced tickets?  And then I realized the reason: this was just another manifestation of a phenomenon I have noticed over the years of being "in the biz" of opera singing: the hushed-up mysteriousness and only-for-certain-people attitude that is encouraged among opera teachers/students/professionals, and heck, even the more staunch fans themselves!  It's as if the singe...

Okay, so I've got some exciting things to listen to this evening, and a few from suggestions from colleagues.  Here they are in no particular order. 1. "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", sung by Waltraud Meier, composed by Gustav Mahler, and found on YouTube here .  My impressions were as follows: what a beautiful poem, and quite simplistic, but also very poignant.  Waltraud Meier sings wonderfully here in this song, but boy---it seems as if anyone could sing this song well because it's so beautiful! 2. "Mountains Beyond Moutains" by Arcade Fire: This song was recommended by a string player colleague this evening, and I listened to it and liked it a lot. It has a rather lulling experience since it almost sounds like a bunch of tiny fairies singing (because of their voices...) but, I actually really really liked it. It was almost like an adult lullaby. 3. Brahms' String Quintet No. 2 can be found on YouTube here .  My thoughts were: what a really...