Diana Di Mauro and Mark S. Doss - Photo by Charles Leonio

In the third part of my interview with Mark S. Doss I tried to have some fun with him, asking a series of short answer questions. We talked about his idols, favourite performers, and his aspirations. He told me about the difficulty involved with being an opera singer and how his work has changed over the last twenty-five years.

Thanks again Mark!

Please enjoy the last installment of my three part interview with Mark S. Doss, filmed at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto

Mark S. Doss and Diana Di Mauro - Photo by Charles Leonio

In this second clip with Mark S. Doss, the focus is on singing and the technical demands of performing operatic repertoire. I asked him about how he trained and maintains his voice, and he sang me a few impromptu high notes. Mark loves his technology, and mentions a few singer friendly Apps while we talked about everything from the musical score, to solfeggio and scales.

Please enjoy part two of my three part interview with Mark S. Doss, filmed at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto

Photographed by Johannes Ifkovits at Schloss Fuschl near Salzburg
Makeup and hair by Evelyn Rill ©/dress by Marchesa/earrings by Chopard 
© Johannes Ifkovits 2010 Photo from www.operanews.com

The Metropolitan Opera deserves a trophy for Otto Schenk's new production of Donizetti's operatic farce "Don Pasquale."  Tenor Matthew Polenzani has been praised for his vocal talents, but the show was undoubtably stolen by Anna Netrebko.

The Met has given Mr. Schenk a marvelous cast, especially the charismatic soprano Anna Netrebko in a portrayal of Norina that dazzled Friday night's audience...There was so much intensity in her singing you would have thought she was performing Lucia's "Mad Scene." The house, understandably, went wild. (New York Times Review)

For those of us unfortunate souls not living in NYC, the opera will be broadcast Live in HD at Cineplex Movie Theatres on November 13.

Features in the November 2010 issue of Opera News, the annual Diva Issue, is the article "Anna's Voyage" by Oussama Zahr. Opera News declares it is one of the best articles ever written about Anna Netrebko. The article focuses on roles that Netrebko has sung in the past, as well as what she has planned for the future now that she has become on of the most famous, and marketable sopranos in the world.  The article offers up some of Netrebko's candid opinions on singing and opera. Not only is she a pleasure to watch perform, but she really understands what makes opera so exciting for the audience, and what makes a singer's voice both electric and beautiful.

When I mention that I hear Mirella Freni in her voice, Netrebko's eyes light up. "Mirella. Thank you. I always heard this, since I started studying. And you know what, listening to her helps me a lot, because I think her technique is amazing for what she's doing.

"She always sang," says Netrebko of the Italian soprano. And, here, Netrebko reveals her partiality for singers with flowing, generous voices, unlike a different breed of singer she sees today, marked by lots of covered tone without forward placement in order to manipulate dynamics easily. "This dynamic control, usually, it's not going from the breath. Beautiful for the audience, dangerous for the singer," she explains. "I will not tell you the name of the singer – very good soprano, beautiful voice, one of the most beautiful – and I attend a couple of her performances in different roles. And I was like, why the fuck are you singing half mezzavoce? Who needs that? Open your mouth, give me your voice – on the breath, supported, pointed, and that's it. But lots of people think this is the musicality. I think it's bullshit. You can show a couple of the notes, okay, you have piano, thank you. After that, give me singing, give me the voice."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE