Opera Box Score

We take an inside look at Chicago Opera Theater’s 2018-2019 season announcement, and we score it on the Dodson Scale™. Will COT make it into the plus points column...?

But first, the Boston ‘Globe’ recently published an in-depth article on James Levine, featuring interviews with two dozen former students, one of whom describes the conductor’s years at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a “cult”. We'll tell you what these interviews add to the on-going Levine saga...

And it’s the ‘Two Minute Drill’: everything you need to know from the past week in Operaland, and our hot takes on those stories...

Plus, Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on the recent production of Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” at Lyric Opera of Chicago...

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Matthan Black – a familiar voice on our show – is back in Chicago for a spell, visiting from New York City, where he now resides. He fills us in on what’s happening in small-scale and storefront opera in the Rotten Apple...

Then, ‘Fantasy Fachball’ returns for a sister showdown, when Oliver and Matt each pick a set of sopranos to compare and contrast in singing a duet from Mozart's "Così fan tutte". Matthan and Weston are the judges...

Plus it’s the ‘Two Minute Drill’: everything you need to know from the past week in Operaland, and our hot takes on those stories...

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Tonight, Oliver and Tobias go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with baritone Anthony Clark Evans.  The 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World main prize finalist is currently singing the role of Riccardo in Bellini’s “I Puritani” at Lyric Opera of Chicago...

And then, the Metropolitan Opera just announced its 2018-2019 season.  We crunch the numbers of those titles on the Dodson Scale™ in 'Chalk Talk'.  Also, James Levine has finally stepped aside as the Met's Music Director and, in an appointment that surprised precisely no one, the forty-one-year-old Québécois conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been named as Levine’s successor.  We’ll tell you how that affects the Met’s season...

Plus, it’s the ‘Two Minute Drill’: everything you need to know from the past week in Operaland, and our hot takes on those stories...

Double plus, we’ll squeeze in Oliver playing ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on Chicago Opera Theater’s production of Puts and Campbell’s opera “Elizabeth Cree”...

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Librettist Mark Campbell joins us 'Inside the Huddle' live via phone. His latest collaboration with composer Kevin Puts is the opera “Elizabeth Cree”, currently playing at Chicago Opera Theater. Hear Mark talk about how he got into the mind of a nineteenth-century serial killer...

But first, Lyric Opera of Chicago recently announced its 2018-2019 season a few weeks ago. Our team scores the season using a metric we're calling 'The Dodson Scale'...

And, it’s the ‘Two Minute Drill’: everything you need to know from the past week in Operaland, and our hot takes on those stories...

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Weston, Tobias and Matt react to Sunday’s Super Bowl (where a backup quarterback stepped in for an injured QB to win the game) by talking about singers who have stepped in last minute and won over audiences and critics alike -- as well as their colleagues -- to become stars themselves...

Plus, Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ via phone and reviews Bellini’s “I Puritani” at Lyric Opera of Chicago...

And then, it’s the ‘Two Minute Drill’: everything you need to know from the past week in Operland, and our hot takes on those stories...

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Our ‘Fantasy Fachball’ segment returns! Tobias and Cummings each pick a tenor to battle it out in an excerpt from Gounod’s “Faust”...

But first, we take a closer look at the recent season announcements from San Francisco and Los Angeles Operas, and Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ by reviewing the recent Met in HD version of Puccini’s “Tosca’...

Plus, it’s the Two Minute Drill. You get all your opera headlines from the past week and our hot takes on them...

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Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen returns to the show, live by phone from Houston. We ask him about his work at Houston Grand Opera, and his life post-Hurricane Harvey...

And then, in ‘Chalk Talk’, it’s operatic pot pourri: we get you details on the latest competitions, repertoire lists, and a special focus on opera in Washington, DC...

Plus, it’s the 'Two Minute Drill'. You get all your opera headlines from the past week and our hot takes on them...

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Tonight, we reach into our Listener Mailbag, answering the question: “What would be the handful of operas, from the nineteenth century to the present, that you would consider the most representative if you were tracking an evolution of the form?” Check out our team's thoughts...

Then, last month in the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini called it “the best opera recording ever”. We’ll tell you what is, and what we think of it...

And then, it’s the Two Minute Drill. You get all your opera headlines from the past week and our hot takes on them...

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Tonight, Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with soprano Janai Brugger, who is currently singing the role of Liu in Puccini’s “Turandot” at Lyric Opera of Chicago...

But first, Weston Williams has spent the better part of the last decade trying to blend in with opera and classical music professionals across the US, despite his distinct lack of professional training in singing, musicianship, or composition. He’s had brief stints as a journalist for WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama, and as a writer for the Christian Science Monitor. Weston joins us to talk all things opera-related...

And then, it’s the 'Two Minute Drill'. You get all your opera headlines from the past week and our hot takes on them...

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We celebrate one hundred, count ‘em, one hundred episodes of America’s Talk Radio Show About Opera. Our whole team will be on the air, plus we bring back past co-host Giovanna Jacques...

We’ll recap the highs and lows of opera stories and productions from 2017, and we’ll play you the very first demo tape ever of Opera Box Score...

And then, it’s the Two Minute Drill. You get all your opera headlines from the past week and our hot takes on them...

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