Opera After Dark

In our first episode of the decade, we jump into one of our favorite sub-genres: the song cycle. Can you guess which beloved composer started this trend with the OG song cycle? Here's a hint: his name doesn't start with "Schu."

It's that time of year again, and we're happy to be bringing you some of our favorite holiday music from the operatic and classical repertoire. Get ready for those warm and fuzzy feelings, and Happy Holidays!

Tchaikovsky's last opera may not be as well known as some of his other works, but the Queen of Spades still packs a punch. Today, the OAD team fills you in on the best aspects of this Russian classic.

This week Kyle takes the reigns to talk about one of opera's most-loved phenomenons: the tenor high C. It wasn't always part of the opera world, but once it arrived, it changed things forever.

What a pleasure it is revisit the music of one of our favorite composers: Leos Janacek! If you like beautiful orchestration and cute animal stories (which should include everyone), The Cunning Little Vixen is definitely the opera for you.

Following our last episode all about Philip Glass, this episode goes deep into the third opera in his portrait trilogy: AKHNATEN! We talk about the music, the inspiration and creative process, the source material, the text of the libretto, the real historical Akhnaten (including theories that his whole family were aliens) and his very complicated family (hint: recent DNA testing reveals that the family tree is REALLY MESSY, involving Nefertiti, King Tut, half-sisters that are also wives, aunts that are also mothers, husbands that are also siblings of some kind, daughters that are also wives, etc. etc. etc.), and all kinds of other interesting stuff!

So many good things come out of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.... like minimalist opera! In this episode, we talk about the life and work of Philip Glass, and dig into the style of minimalism! He actually dislikes being labelled a "minimalist" composer - but it's helpful in understanding the historical context and impact of his work in the grand scheme of things. While it might not be everyone's jam, we advocate for giving it a chance - the music is pretty amazing!

In this episode, we talk all about the great American composer Samuel Barber and one of his greatest operatic works - that we think should be done more often - VANESSA!

In 1731, Antoine François Prévost introduced the character of Manon to the world through his "smutty" novel L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, and she has seduced audiences time and again ever since! In this episode, we talk about the two operas that have survived in the modern canon that tell her story - one by Massenet, and one Puccini!

As Halloween approaches, our favorite composers visit us from beyond the grave via composer/medium: Rosemary Brown. That's right, Rosemary Brown became world famous for "transcribing" works of dead composers who she claimed visited her from the beyond. Do you believe in ghosts? Maybe you should listen to these incredibly believable compositions before you make up your mind....

Over a year ago, the OAD team was in Scotland for the wedding of our very own Elspeth. Of course, when an opera fan hears Scottish wedding only one thing should come to mind: Lucia di Lammermoor. In this episode, recorded the morning after Elspeth's wedding, we discuss the epic story of Lucia and the mad scene that made this opera famous.

Everyone loves a British Queen, especially Italians composing opera in the early 1800s! On this episode, we talk about bel canto tudor mania, and a present day parallel coming to Broadway this spring!

For our 100th episode, we tackle one of the difficult operas to talk about concisely... Berg's LULU! It is NOT funny, it is NOT uplifting, it is NOT easy to talk about concisely... but it is one of the most important operas of the 20th century, and it was a listener request... so here we go! Thank you for listening, and here is to 100 MORE episodes to come!

This episode, and its horrible puns, are almost too much to Handel. We talk all about the most prolific opera composer of the Baroque period, George Fridric Handel, and the near-death experience that almost ended his career before it began.

When thinking of a scandalous opera, Salome is usually the first to come to mind. In this episode we talk about Salome's success from scandal, and exactly what makes this opera so challenging in every sense of the word.

Opera After Dark is back for a fourth season! To kick things off, we recount the summer's adventures and look ahead at exciting productions to come in the 19-20 opera season.

In a bonus mini-episode, we talk about As One, a modern opera by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed. This comes ahead of our meet up on June 4 prior to seeing a performance of the opera at Merkin Concert Hall in NYC. For full details, visit the Opera After Dark Facebook page.

The 18-19 opera season is coming to a close, so we're wrapping season 3 of Opera After Dark with a look back at our favorite operatic moments from the past year. Also, we hint at some exciting new content and live events to come! Make sure you subscribe and follow us on social media to get full updates and information!

We have come to the end of the Ring with an epic, over-an-hour-long episode on the final opera in the cycle: Götterdämmerung! In this episode, we talk about more tarnhelm shenanigans, magic potions, disguises, revenge, murder, pleas for help, a depressed Wotan, a mezzo Valkyrie, the only moment in the Ring where the chorus gets to sing, we meet a bunch of new characters, and (spoiler alert!), Brünnhilde pays the ultimate sacrifice in order to return the ring to the Rhine. Redemption through love, folks. And the world is washed clean of the greed and destruction brought on by the Ring. Or something like that...

This week, we're back to Wagner's Ring Cycle, but still talking about a super hero origin story of sorts. A young man who knows no fear, the reforging of magical and powerful weapon, slaying a dragon, rescuing a woman from a deep sleep in dangerous surroundings - this sounds familiar...