Eine Wagner-Film Komplimente des Metropolitan Oper

For more information about locations to catch the film, as well as the story about the making of the piece, click here.

Jay Hunter Morris: Practice Makes Perfect As Wagner Tenor

Heldentenor Jay Hunter Morris finally getting deserved recognition. (Photo: Stephanie Diani/NYTimes)

"As a boy growing up in Paris, Tex., Mr. Morris — he blurs his age as 'mid-40s' — had music on both sides, his father a Southern Baptist music minister, his mother the organist at First Baptist Church. He had never heard opera until he moved to Dallas and saw La Traviata. 'She is laying on her back and she has no microphone and she’s singing,' he said. 'How do they do that? I decided to take lessons and see if I have a voice for this.' To be self-critical without being self-destructive may be the single most valuable trait of adult life. Mr. Morris says he does not have the tenor quality 'where I can just open up and be glorious,' but he cops to being persistent. 'It’s sort of like shooting free throws over and over to get them right,' he said. 'There are things that my voice teacher has been telling me for the last 15 years, and I’m just now getting them. I want to be really good at this someday. I’m getting there, but I’m not there yet.'" [Source]

San Francisco Opera Announces Wagnerian Cast Change

Tenor replacement: Jay Hunter Morris

"David Gockley, General Director of San Francisco Opera, has announced a casting change in the Company’s upcoming presentation of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). American tenor Jay Hunter Morris will now sing the title role of “Siegfried” replacing acclaimed Wagernian tenor Ian Storey, who was originally announced to sing the role in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, the third and fourth operas of the composer’s epic four-opera cycle. Mr. Storey will only sing in Götterdämmerung, a performance that will mark both his Company and role debuts. The premiere of Siegfried is slated for Sunday, May 29th followed by the premiere of Götterdämmerung a week later on Sunday, June 5th. Three complete cycles of the Ring will be presented at the War Memorial Opera House from June 14th to July 3rd, 2011." [Source]