Image: Le Sortie de l’opéra en l’an 2000 (Leaving the opera in the year 2000) by French illustrator Albert Robida (https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/leaving-the-opera-in-the-year-2000/)

A new exclusive audio compilation of interviews made during the last three decades

The commentaries spoken by acclaimed performers that have been compiled exclusively for this new Hampsong Foundation website section have been recorded over the last three decades by Jon Tolansky.   They range from lengthy in-depth discussions to very short observations, the latter nevertheless having important value.  71 operas in total are covered, and coincidentally there are 71 artists in total speaking.  Some operas receive a sizeable number of commentaries from a number of artists, sometimes with divergent comparative views, while there are other operas that are discussed by as few as one or two artists.  Thus this collection is not remotely offering a comprehensively balanced picture of commentaries on opera’s enormous opera repertoire.  On the contrary, it is simply but exclusively preserving the invaluable thoughts, observations, and insights of outstanding acclaimed performers who have discussed specific topics either in detail or in brief during the last 30 or so years.  Most of these artists are or were singers, but there are also several conductors and a few stage directors.

A preview of some recordings concerning the composer Samuel Barber are available on this placeholder website–stay tuned for more information about the full launch of this exciting next collection!