Opera Box Score

[@ 2 min] This week, Frederica von Stade, a living legend, takes a Free Throw on the role of the Mother in Dead Man Walking and reveals the heartbreak of being a mother working in opera.

[@ 16 min] Then…we go Inside the Huddle with tenor Gwilym Bowen, who is setting his voice to Christmas Oratorio and Messiah mode as we enter into the most magical season of all[@ .

[@39 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Peter Gelb is jockeying for a cabinet position with a promise to make opera great again.

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[@4 min] Later this month, Agnes Baltsa will celebrate her 80th birthday, and since her handlers won’t answer our interview request, we’ll offer you the next best thing and induct the grandiose Greek mezzo-soprano into the OBS hall of Fame.

[@ 31 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…So far there’s only one thing to look forward to in 2025: GRAMMY season! We’ll walk you through the noms while we all collectively smile through the pain…

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Alright, this week…it’s the first week in November in America and the election is the only thing we can think about. We have no idea if America will still be a thing by the time you hear this…but we will try to continue the conversation about politics…I mean opera.

Then…a free throw from bass Kenneth Kellogg who is set to make his Chicago debut in his signature role, The Father in Jeanine Tesoriu and Tazewell Thompson’s BLUE.

Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…we got one tenor chiding us and another tenor grousing about his picture not being included on the cover of a DVD and, I’m sorry, Democracy is at stake here, so forgive us if we don’t really care.

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Alright, it’s Halloween, and we’re here to warn you about opera characters you don’t want to be alone with in the woods…and wouldn’t you know it, none of them are bears!

Plus we have lots of listener mail, so we are going to do something extra horrifying and skip the Two Minute Drill.

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[@ 1 min] It’s the return of TKO, when we pit two sopranos against each other, one American and one Italian, in the obstacle course that is Madama Butterfly…

[@ 39 min] And then, Ermonela Jaho, one of the undisputed great Cio-Cio San’s of our time, takes a Free Throw on her signature role.

[@ 55 min] And, in the listener mailbag, a field report on the Met’s production of Grounded.

[@ 1 hr] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Harmonia Mundi sells its soul? I mean, I guess it is almost Halloween…

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[@ 4 min] It’s a Tenor Double Header! We go inside the huddle with two singers making their North American debuts in lead roles. First up, Mexican-American tenor Galeano Salas, who is set to co-star in La Traviata in Detroit opposite FOS Emily Pogorelc. Then, we speak to baroque specialist Antonin Rondepierre, who sings a title role in Acis and Galatea at Opera Atelier.

[@ 52 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Warning: Naked Nuns Roller Skating may induce nausea….And the New York Times critics may induce tantrums.

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[@ 3 min] Sinéad Campbell Wallace goes Inside the Huddle! The Irish soprano shares how she began her career singing Handel and Mozart then took a long break to start a family and returned to singing as a Jugendliche dramatische Sopran. With a Salome and an Elsa already under her belt, she is making her American debut as Leonora in Washington National Opera’s Fidelio.

[@ 42 min] And then…a field report on the Tales of Hoffmann from the Met, starring Friends of the Show Benjamin Bernheim and Erin Morley.

[@ 49 min] What’s the playbook for keeping an opera company afloat in troubled times? Glyndebourne and Atlanta apparently have the secret sauce.

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[@ 2 min] We go Inside the Huddle with Ricky Ian Gordon. The prolific American composer of operas such as "A Coffin in Egypt," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "Orpheus and Euridice" has another credit to add: author! Ricky will share anecdotes from his new memoir, Seeing Through: A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs, and Opera.

[@ 35 min] And then…a field report from an advanced screening of Maria Callas biopic from the New York Film Festival. Will it be opera gloved thumbs down or opera gloved thumbs up?

[@ 40 min] Dresden’s rolling in cash, Berlin’s broke, and Apple Classical has taken another tiny step towards world domination…

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[@ 4 min] We go Inside the Huddle with Vanessa Becerra. The Peruvian and Mexican American soprano is set to make her Chicago Opera Theater debut in the title role of Ferdinando Paer’s Leonora. She joins OBS for a frank conversation about how she distinguished herself as an artist and how her Latina identity opened up new opportunities.  

[@ 37 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…can we get through the segment without naming the patron of Operalia?

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[@ 2 min] t’s fall, time for  pumpkin-spice and football, and the OBS team shortlists what we want to see in the 2024-2025 opera season...

[@ 21 min] And speaking of people you’ll want to hear this season, we have a Free Throw from Oliver’s super-crush Huw Montague Rendall as he gets set to make his house and role debut as Billy Budd in Vienna.

[@ 28 min] Plus, we have a Philly-style sendoff for George in the Listener Mailbag, along with a pair of listener field reports from New York City and Nicaragua…

[@ 43 min] And, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…it’s not just the MLB post season, it’s also international opera awards season!

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