Opera After Dark

On this episode, we talk about an opera that could be set in EITHER Sweden or Boston (it's all because of those #damncensors), and was inspired by a true story! It features a love triangle, murderous sub-plots, some historically inaccurate elaborations (for the sake of the drama, of course), a campy fortune teller scene, some mystical herbs, and some pretty #damngoodduets ... in other words, this episode is all about Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera!

We're excited to geek out over this beautiful Czech opera! Those of you that know The Little Mermaid are familiar with this story. Mermaid, Prince, Sea Witch - all of the pieces are there. However, we like this music better than Disney's. Yeah, we said it. Antonin Dvorak's only entry into today's opera canon sure is a beauty!

Christopher Cerrone is back with us for Composers Drinking Whisky - Part 2! In this episode, we throw names of composers at Chris, and he tells us what he thinks. We cast a wide net, touching on people like Bach (of the "J.S." variety), Beethoven, Poulenc, Mozart, Wagner, Puccini, Ravel, Bartók, Hildegaard von Bingen, John Adams, Leonard Bernstein, Steven Sondheim, Dvořák, Janáček, Debussy, Kaija Saariaho, and George Benjamin, to name a few! The conversation is fun, we listen to some awesome music, and Chris reveals what is "crying opera" is!

Composer Christopher Cerrone joins us as our first guest in the first episode of our new sub-series - Composers Drinking Whisky! In this episode, Chris talks with us about the genesis of his opera "Invisible Cities" (for which he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize!), the path that led him towards classical composing, and all kinds of other interesting things! Listen all the way through, and not only will you hear sneak peaks of some of his works in progress, but you will also hear the greatest analogy ever made between listening and assembling Ikea furniture!

Adriana Lecouvreur is popping up at more and more opera houses recently, perhaps because Queen Netrebko has taken on the role of the title character. The plot is so wonderfully operatic, with twists and schemes galore, it may surprise you to hear it's based on true events. We hope you enjoy this gem from composer Francesco Cilea!

Imagine going to see a new ballet and the audience breaks out in a riot. This is exactly what happened when Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" had its premiere in 1913. Get ready to flip some tables as we dive into what is now a mainstay of the ballet repertoire.

As promised, here is part two of our season preview conversation with Opera Wire. In this episode, David and Francisco Salazar tell us what exciting performances are coming to European houses in the upcoming opera season.

OAD is back for Season 3! We're kicking things off in a big way with special guests, David and Francisco Salazar from OperaWire.com. In this episode, we talk about what productions and performances to look out for in North America in the upcoming opera season. Tune in for next week's episode where we take a look at exciting opera performances around the world.

In the final episode of Season 2, we discuss Puccini's poorly researched "Spaghetti Western" opera, La Fanciulla del West. This epic tale is your classic gold-mine-and-chill story in which a female protagonist is fending off advances from literally every single man in the mining camp.

Ahead of Heartbeat Opera's performances of the opera next week, Elspeth and Naomi talk about Mozart's take on the legendary Don Juan. In addition to listening to some of Mozart's best composed music, they will also shed some light on the classic Donna Anna debate.

This week, we talk about the Mendelssohn sibling with more notoriety but less moral fiber! Felix was a very talented composer and father of five, but that didn't stop him from getting into trouble with a famous soprano who is also portrayed in the film The Greatest Showman. Plus, we are lucky to have surprise appearances from Henri, the cat! @henrizzlenizzle

In this episode, we return to another bad ass lady who deserves a lot more love and recognition in the classical music canon: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel! Her music is beautiful, complex, genius, and moving, and we think it is pretty amazing that she turned out as much music as she did, especially considering that she was discouraged by her father and brother from publishing her work or performing in public(even though she was also a piano prodigy). Give this episode a listen to learn more about this amazing woman of the 19th century!

Think colors are simply something that can be seen? Today's episode features our friend, Lauren Miller, who is part of a special group of people whose brains associate colors with what they hear. If you listen, you may just hear what color your favorite opera singer's voice sounds like.

In today's episode, we talk about the father of French opera, Jean-Baptiste Lully. This non-French dude had quite the scandalous life is very much responsible for shaping French opera as we know it before coming to a hilariously sudden death.

Debussy composed some of the most beautiful music we have ever heard. Does that automatically make him a good person? In today's episode, we find out the answer! The answer is no, he wasn't a good person...

Which classical music figure connects Mozart, King George III, and Jane Austen? In today's episode we learn about tenor and friend of Mozart, Michael Kelly. It's amazing the things we believe to be factual because somebody wrote them in their memoirs...

At OAD, we spend a lot of time talking about the people that composed or performed opera, but very little talking about those behind the scenes in opera history. That changes today when we talk about the man who funded and produced many of the Bel Canto greats in addition to inventing the cappuccino. And they call him a bully....

Hold on to your hats and wigs, because we're talking about the self-proclaimed bad boy of 20th Century music, George Antheil! Though he never realized lasting acclaim as a composer, he is definitely fun to talk about, and eventually did some sciencey things that made a lasting impact on technology we use every day.

Jealousy, lust, imprisonment, torture, fugitives, murder, mayhem , and epic love - TOSCA has got it ALL! The music is awesome - and we'll tell you why. It's one of those [SPOILER ALERT] "everyone dies at the end" kind of works, and also fits our theory that if the title of the opera is a single female name, you know the person by that name in the story is going to be dead by the end. SO UPLIFTING!! Here we go!!

In honor of Valentine's Day, we bring you the most epic operatic rejections! We often think of opera's many romantic love stories, but it turns out there are just as many, if not more, painful rejections. And by painful, we mean literally stabbed-in-the-chest painful. This should surely get you in the Valentine's spirit!