Opera Box Score

It’s a ‘Chalk Talk’ double-header tonight. In Part One, Tobias and Daina and George reveal what they’re each thankful for in opera; see if you’re thankful for the same things...

You get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’...

Then, in ‘Chalk Talk’ Part Two, the boys (and girl) talk about turkeys and take a few potshots. Find out what some of the dud ideas, dreadful productions and dismal moments have been so far this opera season...

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Whether you’re surprised or not, Donald Trump has been elected President of these United States. What can opera teach us about why he won? And what is the future for opera under the Trump administration...?

Then, 'Pop Quiz' returns. Oliver and Daina team up to identify operas just by listening to each work’s overture. They’ll be up against the clock. Play at home to see if you can beat them...

And of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in 'The Two Minute Drill'...

Tonight, we go Inside the Huddle with tenor Scott Brunscheen and soprano Kimberly Jones. They're in Chicago Opera Theater's current production of Purcell's 'The Fairy Queen'. Hear what they have to say about the rehearsal process of this sexy update of a Baroque classic...

In Chalk Talk, Oliver tackles a noisy audience member at a recent production of Humperdinck’s 'Hansel and Gretel' at Seattle Opera. George tackles Isaac Mizrahi, the sports-allergic Honorary Chairman of last month’s National Opera Week.

And, yes, you’ll get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’...

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Guest producer Matthan Black is joined by creative consultant Oliver Camacho on our annual Hallowe'en show! Listen, if you dare, to the scariest music in the opera repertoire...

Then, be brave and join Matthan and Oliver 'Inside the Huddle' when they interview horror film composer Ross Crean...

Plus, 'Monday Evening Quarterback' takes you into the terrifying world of Nico Muhly's opera "Dark Sisters" at Third Eye Ensemble...

And, you get all your opera head(less)lines in 'The Two Minute Drill'...

Whatever you do, don't look behind you...

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We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Kim Witman from Wolf Trap Opera. She joins us to talk opera stats, and to give her insider takes on young artist auditions...

But first, we talk to Brad Caleb Lee, assistant director on the upcoming production of Missy Mazzoli’s opera “Song from the Uproar” at Chicago Fringe Opera. You’ll get an exclusive look into the sonic world of this unique work, as well as its characters, design concept and rehearsal process...

And, naturally, you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Go Cubs Go!

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If you’ve never heard a Heldentenor with a good ol’ boy East Texas accent, you haven’t lived. We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with tenor Jay Hunter Morris. He’s currently rehearsing Jake Heggie’s opera “Moby Dick” at the Dallas Opera. We talk Cowboys, Cubs and opera careers...

Also, Toby and George do a mid-season check in on what’s happened in Operaland so far this Fall, and Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on the production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Plus, you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’...

This show is all-Wagner, all the time! In our ‘Chalk Talk’ segment, we talk about what makes Wagner, Wagner; and why his operas matter...

‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ revisits “Das Rheingold” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Frank Martin’s “Le vin herbé” at Chicago Opera Theater...

‘TKO’ returns! Oliver Camacho is the judge as Jonas Kaufmann and Ben Heppner battle it out singing Siegmund’s aria “Winterstürme” from 'Die Walküre'...

Plus, you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’...

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In 'Chalk Talk', George and Tobias reveal how opera singers get hurt. What happens to your performance that night, and what happens to your career the next day...?

'Monday Evening Quarterback' returns, as Oliver reviews Wagner's “Das Rheingold” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Frank Martin’s opera “Le vin herbé” at Chicago Opera Theater...

Plus, the team will ‘Crunch the Numbers’ and look at the stats behind the most common baritone arias sung in auditions...

Welcome to Season 2 of America's talk radio show about opera!

George and Tobias DVR the first presidential debate and talk opera...

In our ‘Chalk Talk’ segment, we look at two stories of two different African-American men who got into the opera business against all the odds: bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green who beat juvenile hall to make it into the ensemble at the Vienna State Opera, and Morris Robinson, who finished his college football career at The Citadel before singing at the Metropolitan Opera....

Then it’s one of our new segments, called ‘The Hot Seat’, in which we take a look at an opera figure who has made a big career move, or made a tough choice, that has brought them into the public eye. This week we focus on Oliver Mears, who has just been appointed as the Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London...

Plus you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’, and we wrap up with another new segment called ‘Crunching the Numbers’. We interpret some cold, hard stats from opera and read between the lines. This week, we look at the most -- and least -- popular tenor arias heard in auditions, taken from Kim Witman's blog at Wolf Trap Opera...

This week, George and Oliver are joined by stage director Rose Freeman and mezzo-soprano Marysa Abbas. (Abbas is also the Managing Diva of Opera on Tap's Chicago chapter.) We debate the ways in which success is defined in the opera business, and what control artists have over their career paths...

Then, our 'Monday Evening Quarterback' segment returns, as we review Haymarket Opera's production of Haydn's 1779 work "L'isola disabitata"...