Happy New Year, everybody! Get ready for an astonishing onslaught of awesome, a veritable juggernaut of wow, from Classical Classroom in 2016 (John Luther Adams! The Force Awakens! Alisa Weilerstein!), starting with this episode featuring Rufus Wainwright.

You may know Rufus Wainwright as a singer-songwriter, a piano man, a dude who hangs out with Elton John and Joni Mitchell. But as it turns out, he also writes classical music and opera. In this episode, he talks about his new opera, Prima Donna, and writing a traditional romantic opera today.

Audio production by Todd "Toddwright" Hulslander with polite claps from Dacia Clay and editing by Mark DiClaudio.

All music in this episode from the opera Prima Donna, available on Deutsche Grammophon.