Mastering the Music - Daniel Todd

Posted by Sian Ellett on 21 February 2012 | 2 Comments

Tags: Master of Music (Opera Performance), University of Melbourne, Recital, The Rakes Progress, Daniel Todd, Music, Victorian Opera, bloggers, artists

On Sunday 19 February, Victorian Opera was delighted to introduce the first intake of Master of Music (Opera Performance) students in a recital at Horti Hall. This new program is a partnership between Victorian Opera and the University of Melbourne, developed with financial support from Arts Victoria. Participants undertake an intensive, two-year course covering all aspects of opera and graduates receive a Master of Music (Opera Performance) from the University of Melbourne.

Tenor, Daniel Todd, is one of the eight students selected for the new course, and is also covering two roles in The Rake's Progress. He talks to us about the recital, his fellow students and rehearsals -

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I loved the diversity of the arias in the recital. It's not every day one hears Wagner, Stravinsky, Rossini, Massenet, Puccini and Menotti in one sitting! It was delightful to hear the other singers in the course and is so exciting and inspiring to be amongst young performers of this calibre. It was also great to get a chance to meet the company's patrons whose support helps us all to be here.

Being a part of The Rake's Progress is just magnificent. I feel privileged to get up in the morning and go to work with the likes of John Bell, Steven Heathcote and Richard Gill, especially when working on something as unusual and extraordinary as Stravinsky’s Rake's Progress. I'll admit it's a plus that the music stuck in my head is something I want to hear over and over again.

There is a real sense of a shared journey as the team unravel the complex music and dark heart of this work. I'm excited by where we will take this work, and it where it will take us.

- Daniel