Opera After Dark

On this episode, we talk about an opera that could be set in EITHER Sweden or Boston (it's all because of those #damncensors), and was inspired by a true story! It features a love triangle, murderous sub-plots, some historically inaccurate elaborations (for the sake of the drama, of course), a campy fortune teller scene, some mystical herbs, and some pretty #damngoodduets ... in other words, this episode is all about Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera!

We're excited to geek out over this beautiful Czech opera! Those of you that know The Little Mermaid are familiar with this story. Mermaid, Prince, Sea Witch - all of the pieces are there. However, we like this music better than Disney's. Yeah, we said it. Antonin Dvorak's only entry into today's opera canon sure is a beauty!

Christopher Cerrone is back with us for Composers Drinking Whisky - Part 2! In this episode, we throw names of composers at Chris, and he tells us what he thinks. We cast a wide net, touching on people like Bach (of the "J.S." variety), Beethoven, Poulenc, Mozart, Wagner, Puccini, Ravel, Bartók, Hildegaard von Bingen, John Adams, Leonard Bernstein, Steven Sondheim, Dvořák, Janáček, Debussy, Kaija Saariaho, and George Benjamin, to name a few! The conversation is fun, we listen to some awesome music, and Chris reveals what is "crying opera" is!

Composer Christopher Cerrone joins us as our first guest in the first episode of our new sub-series - Composers Drinking Whisky! In this episode, Chris talks with us about the genesis of his opera "Invisible Cities" (for which he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize!), the path that led him towards classical composing, and all kinds of other interesting things! Listen all the way through, and not only will you hear sneak peaks of some of his works in progress, but you will also hear the greatest analogy ever made between listening and assembling Ikea furniture!

Adriana Lecouvreur is popping up at more and more opera houses recently, perhaps because Queen Netrebko has taken on the role of the title character. The plot is so wonderfully operatic, with twists and schemes galore, it may surprise you to hear it's based on true events. We hope you enjoy this gem from composer Francesco Cilea!

Imagine going to see a new ballet and the audience breaks out in a riot. This is exactly what happened when Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" had its premiere in 1913. Get ready to flip some tables as we dive into what is now a mainstay of the ballet repertoire.

As promised, here is part two of our season preview conversation with Opera Wire. In this episode, David and Francisco Salazar tell us what exciting performances are coming to European houses in the upcoming opera season.

OAD is back for Season 3! We're kicking things off in a big way with special guests, David and Francisco Salazar from OperaWire.com. In this episode, we talk about what productions and performances to look out for in North America in the upcoming opera season. Tune in for next week's episode where we take a look at exciting opera performances around the world.

In the final episode of Season 2, we discuss Puccini's poorly researched "Spaghetti Western" opera, La Fanciulla del West. This epic tale is your classic gold-mine-and-chill story in which a female protagonist is fending off advances from literally every single man in the mining camp.

Ahead of Heartbeat Opera's performances of the opera next week, Elspeth and Naomi talk about Mozart's take on the legendary Don Juan. In addition to listening to some of Mozart's best composed music, they will also shed some light on the classic Donna Anna debate.