Dear Editor: I love reading your magazine, and every month it inspires me. Each artist has a different journey, but your magazine keeps me updated on auditions, grad school, money, training, the physical aspect of singing, and overall care of my body and voice. I look forward to reading the next issue.
— Courtney Glenny
Minneapolis, Minn.
Dear Editor: I wanted to reach out to you and Kristen [Frost], as writer of a very truthful and inspiring column, “Why I Sing” [February 2011]. It echoes exactly my beliefs and reasons for singing and it made me so happy to read it in the magazine. So often we believe that if we are singing at “x,” then we are not “doing it.” Kristen’s statement testifies to all of the places and spaces where “it” can live and bloom for others. Thanks again.
— Stacie Steinke
McLean, Va.
[I, too, love this regular feature and hearing from readers why they sing. Share your reasons in 400 words or less via e-mail to editorial@classicalsinger.com and then watch for your inspiring story in a future issue of CS. –Ed.]
Dear Editor: As a subscriber of Classical Singer, I enjoyed the article of the operatic diva “Claudio Muzio” [see “Distant Voices: Claudio Muzio,” December 2010]. However, reading “the great dramatic soprano Dame Eva Turner (a famous Turandot) called Muzio’s ‘Ombra di nube’ from Licinio Refice’s Cecilia, which was written for Muzio, her ‘desert-island disc,’” you must inform Mr. Dean Southern that “Ombra di nube” is not from the opera Cecilia. It is just a song, not an operatic aria.
— Mario Rossi
(operatic coach and voice teacher)
Waterbury, Conn.
Response from writer Dean Southern: Thank you for your feedback on my article on the great Muzio. I’m pleased you enjoyed it and I’m especially glad you brought the error regarding “Ombra di nube” to my attention. Indeed, it is a popular concert piece—not just among sopranos, but also among tenors and it can be found on Jonas Kaufmann’s new CD Verismo Arias. Your letter prompted me to do more research into Refice’s Cecilia, an opera about which I knew little. I was fascinated to learn Refice died in 1954 in Rio de Janeiro while conducting a performance of the opera, with none other than Renata Tebaldi as the patron saint of music (what a way to go!).
Responses to Cindy Sadler’s Bonus Web Article “Ask Erda: The Selfish Singer” (to read the article, visit www.classicalsinger.com/magazine/featured_article.php?id=10):
Dear Editor: I really appreciated this article because I was one person who made concessions to be in a relationship over my career, and it cost me dearly. And then the relationship didn’t last because the other person didn’t understand even the scaled-back career I had.
Strangely enough, if a person really holds fast to who they are and is realistic with their partner about the commitment their career takes, one can find the right relationship. Anything else is just cheating both people.
— Natalie Mann
San Diego, Calif.
Dear Editor: A wonderful article, as all of Cindy’s articles are. This one jumps right to the heart of things. I know several young singers that need to read this and start thinking, talking, and negotiating.
— Gwen Jones
Baton Rouge, La.
Dear Editor: Great article and so true. I chose family and have taken the road of choral singing to get an outlet for my personal singing, and of course the smaller singing gigs. I also teach and get music to be a big part of my life through that. I consider myself a successful singer because I get to do both.
— Maria L. Kransmo
Gothenburg, Sweden
