via The Sidney Morning Herald, some pearls of wisdom from Lyndon Terracini, the artistic director of Opera Australia, who next month unveils the program for his first season:
The fat lady has sung. And if Lyndon Terracini continues to get his way, she won’t get an encore until she at least shifts some weight.
Lest the man charged with overseeing the future of opera in Australia be accused of sexism, he is quick to point out that his shape-up-or-ship-out message applies to all performers, regardless of gender.
“If you’re seeing a couple making out and one of them is obese, who wants to watch that?” he says with a theatrical grimace. “It’s obscene. You just think, ‘Jeez, for Chrissakes, don’t let the children see that’.”
and this:
If casting “triple threats” who can sing, act and look good helps spark an interest among people who think opera is only for the old and rich, then he makes no apologies for upping the unemployment rate of overweight singers.
“You go to a movie and you see people who look exactly right for that role,” he says. “They’re consummate actors and they’re completely involved in what they are doing, so their performance is totally believable.
For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.