Met Opera Guild Podcast

The topic of today’s episode is Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera, FALSTAFF, which was also his third opera to be adapted from a Shakespeare play. This is a Talking About Opera lecture presented by Bridget Paolucci, split into two parts to ensure the length is manageable without cutting out all the great content. Today we are releasing Part 1, and tomorrow we will release Part 2!

On July 20th, 2016, the Met will be broadcasting the last HD encore opera of the summer to theatres across the globe! The opera is Mozart’s beloved Così fan tutte, and the cast features audience favourites such as Matthew Polenzani, Isabel Leonard, and Danielle de Niese. So to get us all prepared for the broadcast, our episode today features a wonderful Talking About Opera lecture from our archives, with Bridget Paolucci discussing this beloved Mozart work.

Great arias have long been an opportunity for singers to showcase their virtuosity and offer an intimate look at a character’s inner most feelings. In this episode, podcast host Naomi Barrettara takes a deep dive into two different aria forms - the Da Capo aria and the Cabaletta, discussing musical elements of each form, and providing examples by Handel, Rossini, and Verdi.

This is Part 2 of Episode 38, featuring Albert Innaurato giving a Talking About Opera lecture on Verdi's Macbeth. The episode picks up right where Part 1 left off, at the beginning of Act II in the opera.

This week we are continuing our celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with a Talking About Opera lecture devoted to Verdi’s "Macbeth." This particular Talking About Opera recording is somewhat special, as it has never before been released to the public. In an effort to keep our episodes manageable and appealing to a wide audience, we typically try to limit their duration to an hour or less. Seeing as there is so much great information and wonderful musical examples included in this Talking About Opera lecture, we have split it into two parts so that you can experience the full recording.

The second of this summer’s Met Live in HD Encore presentation will be of Donizetti’s "L’Elisir d’Amore," with an exceptional cast starring Anna Netrebko as Adina, Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino, Mariusz Kwiecień as Belcore, and Ambrogio Maestri as the clever Dulcamara. In preparation for the broadcast, the Met Opera Guild’s Kyle Homewood joins Naomi Barrettara in a casual conversation discussing things they love about the opera and musical moments to listen for in one of the most popular operatic comedies of the last two centuries.

With a Met Live in HD Encore presentation of Puccini’s Tosca coming to theatres this Wednesday, June 22, 2016, today's episode once again reaches into the Talking about Opera archives to give you some added insight into one of Puccini’s dramatic works.

The summer of 2016 is in full swing, with festivals and performances in cities across the globe celebrating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. This podcast episode explores the operatic adaptation of a beloved Shakespeare work - A Midsummer Night's Dream - with a musical setting composed by Benjamin Britten. This lecture is taken from our Talking About Opera archives, featuring Guild lecturer Harlow Robinson.

Today’s episode is the second installment of our Memories from the Golden Horseshoe series in which Met broadcast commentator Ira Siff speaks about the legendary performances he witnessed at the old Metropolitan Opera house in its final years between 1961 and 1966. In the episode, I hope you will enjoy remembering or perhaps discovering the likes of Leonie Rysanek, John Vickers, Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Zinka Milanov, Renata Tebaldi, and several others. This is part two of Memories from the Golden Horseshoe!

Today we are happy to present a very special artist interview that took place in March 2016 as part of our Singers’ Studio series with Opera News. In the interview, tenor Roberto Alagna sits down with Opera News Editor-in-Chief F. Paul Driscoll to talk about his life and career. In case you don’t know or don’t remember, this interview took place just after Alagna’s successful run in the Met’s new production of Manon Lescaut in which he replaced Jonas Kaufmann as Des Grieux with only a few weeks’ notice.

Ever wonder what it's like to be a Met Orchestra musician? In this episode we sit down for an informative and entertaining conversation with members of the Met Orchestra to get an inside look at this elite ensemble and some of its players. For more even more great content and to stay up to date with the Met Orchestra, visit www.metorchestramusicians.org.

Since the 2015-2016 Met season came to an end last week, we're taking a look back at some of its most memorable moments. With fantastic new productions like Otello, Pearl Fishers, and Elektra, as well as an outstanding Tudor Queen trilogy, there is much to look back at and reminisce upon. Make sure you comment on our various social media pages and tell us about your favorite moments of the season!

This week we are excited to have Ira Siff on the Metropolitan Opera Guild podcast for the first time. Ira is currently a commentator on the Met’s Saturday broadcasts but also teaches and coaches opera, and even used to run his own opera spoof company! His love of opera and the Met started in his teenage years as he stood in line for standing room tickets at the Old Met in the early 1960’s. Just in case any of you don’t know, the current Metropolitan Opera House opened in 1966, and before that, the opera company was based out of its original home dubbed the “Golden Horseshoe.” Today’s episode is the first of three lectures in which Ira Siff regales us with his Memories of the Golden Horseshoe, talking about his experiences and and the legendary singers that he saw along the way. And of course we will feature many musical clips from these singers as we take this walk down memory lane. So please enjoy part one of Memories from the Golden Horseshoe!

This week’s episode features a pre-performance lecture on the final new production of the 2015-2016 Met season, Elektra. Presenting today’s lecture is radio commentator and writer, William Berger, whom many of you may recognize from Sirius XM’s Met Opera radio and the famed Met Opera Quiz. The slideshow referenced throughout the lecture is available for download at www.metguild.org/podcast.

This week we are very excited to be bringing back Santa Fe Opera’s Desirée Mays to the Met Opera Guild Podcast! We have already had such a great response to last week’s episode and Desirée’s talk on The Real Madama Butterfly, and today’s episode is equally as engaging and informative as Ms. Mays fills us in on some of the confusing plot points and Donizetti’s blurring of fact and fiction in Roberto Devereux.

This week’s episode is recorded from a live event that took place on March 29th, 2016, featuring Santa Fe Opera’s Desirée Mays as she explores the historical and literary sources that contributed to the story of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

This Friday the Met Opera will begin an exciting run of one of Verdi’s more obscure operas, Simon Boccanegra, which will feature Maestro James Levine on the podium and legendary tenor/now baritone Plácido Domingo singing the title role. In preparation for this special musical event, today’s episode features Bridget Paolucci’s Talking About Opera lecture on Simon Boccanegra.

Today’s episode is drawn from one of our Opera Boot Camp classes - an introductory tour through Donizetti’s Tudor Queen operas. These operas have garnered a lot of attention this spring and there is a wealth of history connected to these bel canto masterpieces. This episode explores important background information and musical highlights from "Anna Bolena," "Maria Stuarda," and "Roberto Devereux."

Today’s episode is drawn from a Talking about Opera excerpt, featuring Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" with lecturer Bridget Paolucci. At the time this recording was made, Bridget was a frequent lecturer at the Met Opera Guild, New York City Opera, and regularly appeared on the Met’s Radio Broadcasts. In this episode, Bridget takes us through the rich history of this opera, discussing source material, Mozart's collaboration with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, and delving into the layers of musical meaning and style.

Heralded by scholars and opera lovers as the “last great opera buffa,” Donizetti's DON PASQUALE has been a hit with audiences since the night it premiered in Paris in 1843. This episode features playwright and stage director Albert Innaurato as our lecturer, sharing fascinating details about the composer’s life and the musical elements that made this opera such a striking success.