Met Opera Guild Podcast

This year, opening night at the Metropolitan Opera features Camille Saint-Saëns' masterpiece SAMSON ET DALILA, in a new production starring operatic superstars Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna. First seen together onstage at the Met as the fiery duo of Carmen and Don José, this production promises another evening of operatic fireworks! In this episode, we welcome Opera News Editor-in-Chief F. Paul Driscoll and author, lecturer, and Met Radio commentator William Berger, as they guide you through what to expect at opening night at the Met!

In our last episode, we learned all about cadenza, appoggiaturas, and variations in the interpretation of bel canto ornamentation. In this episode, we are thrilled to have Matthew Timmermans back with us, continuing the discussion on interpolated high notes, puntatura, and vanity cuts!

In the bel canto repertoire, ornamentation, improvisation, and virtuosity are a singer’s calling card, and audiences wait to hear what new vocal tricks a singer will bring to a role. But how do we know what is an acceptable, or stylistically appropriate ornament, and what would sound out of place? What did composers of the time expect singers to do? In this episode, lecturer Matthew Timmermans is back to guide us through the art of beautiful singing in the bel canto!

Onstage magic is often paired with offstage mayhem, and the history of diva worship across centuries of opera is strewn with stories of glamour and stardom, exorbitant fees, precious friendships, vicious rivalries, and hard-earned respect, all connected to seemingly superhuman voices. In today’s episode, lecturer and scholar Matthew Timmermans continues with “Divas Uncensored – Part 2”!

On this episode, we welcome musicologist and lecturer Matthew Timmermans to the microphone, in a special mini-series created especially for our podcast listeners. Matthew has extensively researched and written about the phenomenon of diva-worship, and we are thrilled to have him share with us the legends and lore behind some of opera’s most beloved divas!

With a history as storied as The Metropolitan Opera, there have been plenty of “firsts” that have occurred on its fabled stage. In this episode, Guild lecturer Naomi Barrettara takes us on a guided tour of some of the noteworthy number ones throughout the company’s rich history.

From Charles Anthony’s record of the most performances in Met Opera history to Audrey Luna hitting a record-smashing A above high C, singers continue to break records and make history on The Metropolitan Opera stage! This episode features a celebratory tour of historic moments in "Making Met History: Record-Breaking Moments" with the Guild’s very own Naomi Barrettara.

In the final installment of Ira Siff's "Opera Duos", we begin by stepping back in time, and listening to a recording over 100 years old! This episode spans operatic repertoire from Rossini to Wagner, highlighting operatic legends such as Enrico Caruso and Johanna Gadski, Ramon Vinay and Martha Mödl, Astrid Varnay and Hans Hotter, Renata Tebaldi and Franco Corelli, Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli, George London and Leonie Rysanek, Zinka Milanov and Jussi Björling, and Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi.

Flagstad and Melchior. Zeani and Rossi-Lemeni. Rysanek and Vickers. Price and Berganozi. Sutherland and Horne. Brownlee and Camarena. Callas and Di Stefano. Each were consummate musicians in their own right, but when they performed together, the combined force of their star power was electric! In this episode, Met Radio commentator Ira Siff takes us through the second part of his popular opera duos series.

Dynamic duos are what operatic legends are made of, leaving audiences breathless, in tears, and entranced with their musical and dramatic intensity. But what stories are behind some of these great partnerships? What were the secret musical ingredients that combined with such legendary success? This episode is the first of a three-part series featuring Met Opera radio commentator Ira Siff, taking us on a musical journey through the great power duos of opera that kept audiences wanting more!