Opera After Dark

This week, we talk about the Mendelssohn sibling with more notoriety but less moral fiber! Felix was a very talented composer and father of five, but that didn't stop him from getting into trouble with a famous soprano who is also portrayed in the film The Greatest Showman. Plus, we are lucky to have surprise appearances from Henri, the cat! @henrizzlenizzle

In this episode, we return to another bad ass lady who deserves a lot more love and recognition in the classical music canon: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel! Her music is beautiful, complex, genius, and moving, and we think it is pretty amazing that she turned out as much music as she did, especially considering that she was discouraged by her father and brother from publishing her work or performing in public(even though she was also a piano prodigy). Give this episode a listen to learn more about this amazing woman of the 19th century!

Think colors are simply something that can be seen? Today's episode features our friend, Lauren Miller, who is part of a special group of people whose brains associate colors with what they hear. If you listen, you may just hear what color your favorite opera singer's voice sounds like.

In today's episode, we talk about the father of French opera, Jean-Baptiste Lully. This non-French dude had quite the scandalous life is very much responsible for shaping French opera as we know it before coming to a hilariously sudden death.

Debussy composed some of the most beautiful music we have ever heard. Does that automatically make him a good person? In today's episode, we find out the answer!

The answer is no, he wasn't a good person...

Which classical music figure connects Mozart, King George III, and Jane Austen? In today's episode we learn about tenor and friend of Mozart, Michael Kelly. It's amazing the things we believe to be factual because somebody wrote them in their memoirs...

At OAD, we spend a lot of time talking about the people that composed or performed opera, but very little talking about those behind the scenes in opera history. That changes today when we talk about the man who funded and produced many of the Bel Canto greats in addition to inventing the cappuccino. And they call him a bully....

Hold on to your hats and wigs, because we're talking about the self-proclaimed bad boy of 20th Century music, George Antheil! Though he never realized lasting acclaim as a composer, he is definitely fun to talk about, and eventually did some sciencey things that made a lasting impact on technology we use every day.

Jealousy, lust, imprisonment, torture, fugitives, murder, mayhem , and epic love - TOSCA has got it ALL! The music is awesome - and we'll tell you why. It's one of those [SPOILER ALERT] "everyone dies at the end" kind of works, and also fits our theory that if the title of the opera is a single female name, you know the person by that name in the story is going to be dead by the end. SO UPLIFTING!! Here we go!!

In honor of Valentine's Day, we bring you the most epic operatic rejections! We often think of opera's many romantic love stories, but it turns out there are just as many, if not more, painful rejections. And by painful, we mean literally stabbed-in-the-chest painful. This should surely get you in the Valentine's spirit!