If you were to say "Figaro" three times in quick succession, I'm guessing most people would be able to sing it back to you as it is heard in Figaro's entrance aria, "Largo al factotum" in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The opera has infiltrated popular culture from figure skating routines, to pasta commercials, and, of course, cartoons. It could be that The Barber of Seville was "pop culture" even when the play on which it was based premiered in 1775.

For this special edition of Front Row Center, we'll talk with everyday folks about what comes to mind when they hear the name "The Barber of Seville" (@ 3:50), then I share some information about Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the playwright who seemed to have his pulse on the entire world (@9:30). After that I spoke with television, film, and theatrical hair and makeup artist Alfreda ("Fre") Howard about the importance of hair in society and working with hair of all types (@13:50). Finally, I was honored to speak with three legendary American interpreters of Rosina: Jennifer Larmore, Susanne Mentzer, and Frederica von Stade. They shared their thoughts on Rosina and pop culture, getting nervous before a performance, and what they like (or not) about getting their hair done (@20:50).

This episode is based on a video I created for Cincinnati Opera in the summer of 2020, the first summer of the COVID crisis. You can find the complete video, including interviews, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGpA5mRO_Jk&t=3s.

Don't forget to check out our Spotify Playlist for The Barber of Seville, which includes some of my favorite moments from the "giddy" score. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7CbDF2gz53LqihhkcgKbBX?si=9205b4d83c174cbe

And, visit the episode poll on the Spotify episode homepage.

As always, you can always reach out to me through my website, www.michaeljbolton.com, or email me at [email protected].

Thanks for listening!

Donizetti's ebullient bel canto comedy, L'elisir d'amore, is rightfully one of the jewels in the canon with its amusing story, gorgeous melodies that come one after another, and one of the great operatic characters at its center, Nemorino.

We'll celebrate this opera by talking with sommelier Massimo Maietto (@6:25) about wine and which wines he would suggest as a love potion. Then, therapist Biany Perez (@20:00) discusses the games we play in relationships. After that celebrated American bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi (@35:22) shares his journey to buffo roles and the chiaroscuro nature in all of us. Finally, we'll talk with Giovanna Cavaliere (@46:17), the personal assistant and long-time friend of Luciano Pavarotti, the greatest Nemorino of the late 20th century.

Learn more about our guests on their websites!

Don't forget to check out our Spotify Playlist for L'elisir d'amore, which includes a little tribute to the great Italian soprano Renata Scotto. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JDZz1GnYBKtnlxcLaHZcd?si=e55d2f69473f4237

You can always reach out to me on my website, www.michaeljbolton.com, or email me at [email protected].

Step into the world of the demimonde with Verdi's masterpiece La Traviata. In digging into this opera, we’ll look at 19th-century courtesans and Marie Duplessis, the real-life courtesan who tangentially inspired La Traviata. That conversation is with Professor Andrew Lear. Violetta in the opera, famously dies from tuberculosis. I spoke with infectious disease expert Dr. P. J. Brennan about the disease. Then, horticulturist Karl Gercens of Longwood Gardens shares what makes the camellia, Violetta’s favorite flower, so special. Sex Worker Advocate Lola Davina talks about her journey as a sex worker and gives us a bit of a reality check on sex work in the 21st century. Finally, today’s reigning Violetta, having sung the role over 300 times, Ermonela Jaho is with us on Front Row Center.

There's also a La Traviata playlist for this podcast which you can check out at the Front Row Center Playlist.

To learn more about Mike, visit his website, michaeljbolton.com.

Finally, if you share the name Michael Bolton or know someone who does and might be interested in being interviewed for a new podcast, email me at [email protected].

Learn more about Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph's opera We Shall Not Be Moved and contextual historical elements pivotal to the opera: the 1985 police bombing of MOVE headquarters and the 2011 Pennsylvania education budget crisis which saw the closing of 24 schools within the School District of Philadelphia.

Video of Osage Avenue in 2015, the site of the 1985 police bombing can be seen at https://youtu.be/QOANsBbkbpA.

News coverage from 1985 can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X03ErYGB4Kk.

The Philadelphia Inquirer archive about the bombing is located here: https://www.inquirer.com/move-bombing.

The final project of the Hip H'opera program, a series of Oral History videos from those impacted by the themes in We Shall Not Be Moved called The Un/Sung Stories of We Shall Not Be Moved: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpbhbGwbWvNLbpl50NUkvISzeE7sZQG6L

Enjoy the view from Front Row Center as host Mike Bolton delves into Osvaldo Golijov's 21st-century masterpiece, Ainadamar, which centers on the life, death, and impact of Spanish poet and playwright, Federico García Lorca. Yale University professor Dr. Noël Valis discusses Lorca's life, death, and impact and her new book Lorca After Life, award-winning costume designer Richard St. Clair talks about the 19th-Century Spanish heroine Mariana Pineda, while Founder and Artistic Director of the Pasión y Arte flamenco dance ensemble Elba Hevia y Vaca shares the keys of the flamenco dance form and Lorca's impact on it. Finally, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack talks about preparing the role of Lorca for Detroit Opera's production of Ainadamar.

Also, check out the Front Row Center Playlist on Ainadamar to hear excerpts from the opera.

To learn more about Mike, visit his website, and don't forget to check out the 6-day opera trip to Milan and Venice with Discover My Italy that Mike co-hosts this fall. 

Enjoy the view from Front Row Center as host Mike Bolton speaks with Dr. Margaret Devinny, Associate Professor of German emerita at Temple University, about the origins of the Lohengrin story; the Philadelphia Zoo’s Curator of Birds Pete Bibeault gives the low down on all things swan related; author and lecturer  William Berger helps us rethink the opera; and Met Opera Chorus member soprano Helena Brown discusses preparing Lohengrin for the new Met production (and those costumes). Then, soprano Christine Goerke discusses Ortrud from the music to the staging and everything in between. 

Don't forget to check out Serenades Choral Travel and the 6-day opera trip to Milan and Venice with Discover my Italy that Mike Bolton co-hosts. 

Welcome to the first episode of Front Row Center with host Mike Bolton. For this inaugural podcast, we’ll look at Luigi Cherubini’s Medea. A work rarely staged in the United States, but the spotlight is on this work as the Metropolitan Opera opens its season with it in a new production starring superstar soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.

In S1E1 of Front Row Center, we’ll delve into the mythology and Medea with Classics professor Dr. Grace Ledbetter from Swarthmore College. Psychiatrist Dr. Laure Duval talks about women who commit filicide; Milan-based musicologist Dr. Carlo Lanfossi discusses Cherubini and Médée… or Medea; critic and lecturer David Shengold invokes the specter of Maria Callas on this particular opera.