Persephone Abbott

Posts tagged “Idle Opportuntities

Persephone Reads the Opening Paragraph Aloud

Posted on October 13, 2023

Do you suffer from nerves at auditions? What can be done about this matter? What do opera singers do? Idle Opportunities, a comic novel, reveals just how bad things can get when you’re trying to make it in the opera world. Available on Amazon. Synopsis: Cynthia Murray moved to Paris to become an opera singer and escape her dysfunctional Californian family. The problem is some of the family escaped with her to Europe, and now she’s scrambling to find new ways to take her career to the next level. But will she manage to circumvent the family dramas and create a solid musical foundation for herself? Set in 1992 Idle Opportunities lifts the curtain to reveal the backstage antics of the opera student world…

Castor & Pollux

Posted on March 10, 2023

I went to a masterclass the woman said loudly. Do you know that the singers – beautiful voices – didn’t have a clue what they were singing about? The stranger across the table from me frowned in irritation the pages for the synopsis for Act Two of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux open in his hand. The woman repeated what she had already said a little differently this tme but with the same emphasis. Her friends muted friends listened on, holding their drinks and unsure how to change the topic. I stirred sugar into my Concertgebouw cappuccino, a cup small enough to finish in time for the second bell. It’s hard to understand the words the woman said loudly. Just think if a French singer…