[C Elegans]

Originally posted by fable
For the time being, though, those Kirov Opera performances are a must for anybody who enjoys opera and great voices. Ironically, the Kirov casts contain enough excellent performers to lead me to speak of a Golden Age of Female Voices in Russia. This mirrors the astonishing collection of superb male voices that the Soviet had in the 1930s through the 1960s.

I agree, a couple of the female singers have been here at guest performances, but this is the first time the whole Opera comes here. Still 2 months to go, though.

@Chanak: Unfortunately I know virtually nothing about classical guitarr, so I do not know Tanenbaum or any other instrumentalists by name...guitarr is an instrument that has been sadly neglected by me for some reason, I must look into it more when I have the opportunity.

Regarding the effect classical training has on your development as a musician, I completely agree with you both. It is also interesting to note how many of the pop music artists who have made creative, novel music have had either a solid classical or a solid jazz training. Zappa is one example, Bjork is another. Except for the developement of professional musicians, I also think musical learning is of importance for anybody, since it's a language you need to learn like any other language, and it opens the door not only to a dimension of experiences of art, but also to something in yourself. It is no wonder many people find contemporary classical or jazz music "difficult" compared to boy-bands or plain rock/pop, since it's a language they have not learned. When I was a child, the Swedish school system provided musical education, so by age 8-9 everybody was supposed to choose an instrument and start playing. Lessons were after school, ususally once or twice a week. This system was called the Public Musical School. I started playing much earlier (age 4), and like many other kids who showed musical interest and talent, I was granted to start the Muscial School earlier, without any fees. Without this system, I could never have played the piano, my parents could not have afforded to send me to a private teacher. Sadly, this like many other things has been removed from the Swedish school system since, and now it's back to the old bad times when only rich families can afford to let their kids have a musical education.