Met Opera Guild Podcast

Today’s episode corresponds with the Met’s current holiday production of the The Barber of Seville, although it focuses on the original Il Barbiere di Siviglia rather than the Met’s shortened and translated version. Another revival from the Talking About Opera archives, this lecture is presented by Albert Innaurato. Mr. Innaurato has enjoyed a successful career as a playwright, stage director, journalist, and frequent lecturer at the Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center among many others. His play, Gemini, brought to the Broadway stage in the late 1970s was one of the longest continually running non-musical plays with 1,819 performances. His writings have appeared in numerous publications including Opera News, The New York Times, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Currently, Albert serves as a creative consultant with Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia, and directs nontraditional productions of classic operas and new works alike. We hope you enjoy Mr. Innaurato’s take on Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, or, The Barber of Seville.

This week’s episode will be the second iteration of our lectures on voice types. Our previous voice types lecture, episode 5 on the soprano voice type, is our most popular episode to date! So by popular demand, we are happy to present this lecture all about tenors.

This episode feature a discussion of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," delving into the interpretation of Masonic elements and symbolism throughout the opera.

Today’s episode features an engaging interview with a mezzo soprano turned soprano who just celebrated the 50th anniversary of her Met debut, Grace Bumbry. In the interview hosted by the Met Guild’s Executive Director of Program Development, Paul Gruber, Ms. Bumbry talks about some of the challenges and triumphs she experienced throughout her career that includes over 200 Met performances and countless operatic appearances and recitals around the world.

Today’s episode draws once more from the archives of the Met Opera Guild’s Talking About Opera series. This particular episode features Bridget Paolucci detailing the musical and dramatic beauty of Puccini’s La Bohème. At the time of this recording in 1991, Bridget was a frequent lecturer at the Met Opera Guild, New York City Opera, and regularly appeared on the Met’s Radio Broadcasts. Though she no longer lectures with the Guild, we are happy to bring you Bridget’s take on one of Puccini’s most popular works - La Bohème.

This session with Maestro Steven Osgood is an extremely valuable resource for those hoping to gain a better understanding of Berg's Lulu and 12-tone musical composition. In it, Maestro Osgood highlights hidden musical elements and plot features that will help you piece together this musical puzzle and further enjoy the compositional genius of Berg.

In this episode, host Naomi Barrettara provides all the information that you need to know about the soprano voice type, including the different types of sopranos, common repertoire, and stylistic tendencies. Part of the Metropolitan Opera Guild's popular Opera Boot Camp series, this session is the first of several Voice Type episodes to come in the future.

In this session, soprano and lecturer Jane Marsh discusses two of Puccini's most beloved heroines, Tosca and Butterfly. Sharing insights from her own international performance experience, Ms. Marsh delves into the motivation behind these characters, and also invites Kelly Griffin, soprano, and Djordje Nesic, pianist, to perform two of their most famous arias.

In this episode, the Metropolitan Opera Guild is excited to present a recorded lecture by the late David Hamilton, in which he shares an abundance of information about Tannhäuser and Wagner's life leading up to its composition. Originally recorder for the Met Guild's "Talking About Opera" series, this lecture is a perfect preparation for those attending the Met's Live in HD presentation of Tannhäuser on October 31, 2015.

This week’s episode of the Metropolitan Opera Guild podcast features an engaging interview with Deborah Voigt that was presented and recorded here at the Guild on October 5th, 2015. In it, Ms. Voigt discusses some of the struggles and triumphs she experienced in her life and storied career,