Ellen MacDonald-Kramer is a Canadian writer, editor, opera historian, and classically trained soprano based in the UK. She completed her MA and BFA (Hons.) degrees in in music at York University, Toronto, where she studied voice with renowned mezzo-soprano Catherine Robbin. Ellen loves baroque and classical opera, and is particularly interested in castrati. Other pleasures include secondhand bookshops, Tudor history, cats, red wine, cream teas, and genealogy. She also writes fiction and is currently finishing a novel.
Ellen MacDonald-Kramer
Farinelli’s Last City
Originally interred at the monastery of Santa Croce, Farinelli’s remains were moved to the Certosa in 1810 following the destruction of the former place by Napoleonic forces.
April 19, 2017
Farinelli’s Last City
Originally interred at the monastery of Santa Croce, Farinelli’s remains were moved to the Certosa in 1810 following the destruction of the former place by Napoleonic forces.
April 19, 2017
Review: Farinelli and the King
As a castrati historian and enthusiast, I’m intrigued by all things related to the male treble voice, past and present. So to discover that Claire van Kampen had written a play based partially on the life of the most famous castrato was to be euphoric indeed.
October 3, 2015
Review: Farinelli and the King
As a castrati historian and enthusiast, I’m intrigued by all things related to the male treble voice, past and present. So to discover that Claire van Kampen had written a play based partially on the life of the most famous castrato was to be euphoric indeed.
October 3, 2015
Women in Trousers: A Very Brief History of a Bizarre Operatic Tradition
Opera is full of little quirks, but the trouser role tradition may well be the icing on the cupcake of its peculiarities.
January 22, 2014
Women in Trousers: A Very Brief History of a Bizarre Operatic Tradition
Opera is full of little quirks, but the trouser role tradition may well be the icing on the cupcake of its peculiarities.
January 22, 2014
Thea Kronborg, America’s Literary Diva
Of the few opera singers to appear in classic literature, Thea Kronborg is arguably the most humanly memorable.
September 14, 2013
Thea Kronborg, America’s Literary Diva
Of the few opera singers to appear in classic literature, Thea Kronborg is arguably the most humanly memorable.
September 14, 2013
The Garcia Sisters: Two Romantic Divas
Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot…. Separated by thirteen years and infinitely different natures, they were daughters of the noted tenor and voice teacher Manuel Garcia.
August 15, 2013
The Garcia Sisters: Two Romantic Divas
Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot…. Separated by thirteen years and infinitely different natures, they were daughters of the noted tenor and voice teacher Manuel Garcia.
August 15, 2013
Don’t Shun the Teenage Soprano
Modern opera enthusiasts may sneer at the likes of Jackie Evancho, that irritatingly angelic ‘popera’ sensation… It may come as a surprise, then, that this wasn’t the case 200 years ago.
July 23, 2013
Don’t Shun the Teenage Soprano
Modern opera enthusiasts may sneer at the likes of Jackie Evancho, that irritatingly angelic ‘popera’ sensation… It may come as a surprise, then, that this wasn’t the case 200 years ago.
July 23, 2013