We took Independence Day off, so we’ve got a loaded show for you this week. Oliver Camacho goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with baritone David John Pike, who talks about coaching the role of Scarpia from Puccini’s “Tosca” with Sherill Milnes, and also reflects on singing George Butterworth’s song cycle "A Shropshire Lad" on the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme...

But first, it’s our ‘Chalk Talk’ segment. Ticket sales are up at Los Angeles Opera and the Wiener Staatsoper, but down at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. What factors are pushing these numbers up (or down) and who’s responsible? Tobias Wright has some theories to share...

Plus, Giovanna Jacques checks in from the Bellini Museum in Sicily, we’ve got all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’, and Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ after seeing Renée Fleming in concert...