Met Opera Guild Podcast

This episode marks two major milestones for The Metropolitan Opera Guild: we have reached episode 100 on our podcast, and we have reached over ½ a million listens in the previous 99 episodes! Because these are such exciting milestones for us, we wanted our 100th episode to celebrate the many efforts in arts education that The Metropolitan Opera Guild and The Metropolitan Opera have worked on over the years. We have quite the line up of special guests featured throughout the episode, along with clips from a variety of events, all in an effort to give you a special behind the scenes look at the Met Opera Guild’s rich history and current work in opera education.

Laurent Pelly, director of the Met's premiere production of CENDRILLON, took inspiration from the pages of a classic storybook when creating his fanciful staging. In this episode, Desirée Mays traces the history of the Cinderella fairytale, explores how Massenet's operatic version of the story reflects his musical voice and French style, and compares elements of Massenet's work with Rossini's Italian operatic version of the same story, LA CENERENTOLA.

We can’t let this opera season end without spending some time with LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, a Met Opera favorite. Gaetano Donizetti’s 1835 tragic opera returns to the stage in a production by Mary Zimmerman, including all the heart-breaking turns that make for a dramatic night of theatre. On today’s episode, Guild lecturer and podcast co-host Naomi Barrettara brings a fresh approach to talking about one of the most beloved tragic operas of the bel canto period.

Forbidden love, feuding fathers, and poison are all proven ingredients for a successful opera… and Verdi's LUISA MILLER is no exception!

In this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have a detailed walkthrough of Verdi’s rarely performed operatic gem with librarian and music scholar Deidre Bird.

Mozart’s third collaboration with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, Così fan tutte, takes on an elaborate plot of mistaken identity to explore the nature of love, trust, and infidelity. On today’s episode, we are thrilled to have Dr. Sean Cooper, a frequent presenter for the Mozart Society of America, explore the history, music, and comic complexities of this masterpiece!

This Saturday, March 17th, radio audiences worldwide will have the chance to experience Richard Strauss’s ELEKTRA with Christine Goerke as Elektra and the Met’s future Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin leading the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In this episode, we hear Guild lecturer Victoria Bond explore a score that some critics have said shows off Strauss’s genius at its best!

Rossini’s SEMIRAMIDE was a popular mainstay of the Italian opera circuit in the 1820s and 30s, but we rarely see it on season rosters today. In fact, it has been almost 25 years since it’s last Met appearance! To guide us through the musical and dramatic highlights, today’s episode features Dr. Jeffrey Langford, the assistant dean for doctoral studies and chair of the music history department at Manhattan School of Music.

Just like Nicolas Cage and Cher in the 1987 film "Moonstruck," seeing Puccini’s LA BOHÈME at the Met is a decades-old New York City dating ritual. It is the number one most often performed work in Met opera history, and within the top 10 most often performed operas worldwide. on Saturday, February 24th, Zeffirelli’s famous Met production will be broadcast Live in HD to movie theatres across the globe. Today’s episode features Guild lecturer Naomi Barrettara, exploring the musical and dramatic elements of Puccini’s timeless masterpiece.

Hot off the press is The Metropolitan Opera’s 2018-19 season announcement, featuring four new productions, one Met premiere, and a complete Ring Cycle! Today’s episode features a special conversation between Opera News Editor-in-Chief, F. Paul Driscoll, and Met Opera Radio’s William Berger, giving us the inside scoop on the new season.

First conceived in 1857 but not finished for 25 years, PARSIFAL was Richard Wagner’s last completed opera. This monumental work has sparked great debate among music historians and the public alike since its first performance. In this episode, John J.H. Muller examines the musical language and history of this important work.