San Diego Opera Podcast

Fresh from seeing the premiere of Great Scott, the new opera by Jake Heggie and Terrence MacNally that SDO will produce in May, '16, Dr. Nic gives us his impressions and a few more details about it in order to give our audience a bit more information about this exciting "opera about opera"! Enjoy!

The story of Cio-Cio San, Madama Butterfly, is an interesting and controversial tale with roots in actual events that occured as a result of intense interest in Japan in the 19th century. Dr. Nic explores the history, the story and the cultural collision of East and West. 

Let's dig a little deeper! Tosca is a fictional character, of course, but her background was painstakingly detailed from history by her original creator, playwright Victorien Sardou. Nic Reveles gives us the low-down on that history, putting the story in a historical context. 

The West Coast Premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's new opera, Great Scott, is coming to San Diego Opera in May, 2016! Its World Premiere production at Dallas Opera is currently in rehearsal. In this podcast, Nic Reveles introduces us to the creators, the cast and the story of this wonderful new opera.

The tale of Giacomo Puccini's operatic journey continues with Madama Butterfly which followed Tosca. Your host Nic Reveles talks about the things that the two operas share, Puccini's 'signatures' as a composer, as well as some of the things that make them different.

In this episode we listen to how Puccini "gets to the point", that there's no needless prelude or overture, that we always get right to the action when it comes to his operas, especially Tosca. Which is odd, because the Sardou play, La Tosca, upon which the opera was based is exactly the opposite of that!

In the first podcast of the season, Director of Community Engagement Nicolas Reveles takes an overall look at the operas coming up: Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Great Scott. We've got a lot to look forward to!

Stage Director James Robinson makes his debut with San Diego Opera as the director of John Adams' Nixon in China. Robinson originated this production, created for Opera Theatre St. Louis, in 2004. Listen to him in this interview with Nicolas Reveles, as he speaks about the challenges of mounting this exciting production.

Conductor Joseph Mechavich debuted with San Diego Opera by conducting Jake Heggie's Moby Dick a couple of seasons back. He's returned to lead John Adams' Nixon in China. In this interview with Education Director Nicolas Reveles he talks about the score as well as about the wonderful San Diego Symphony.

Portraying the role of Pat Nixon in John Adams' opera Nixon in China is soprano Maria Kanyova. She's sung the role many times in her career and takes time during this interview with Nicolas Reveles to talk about the role, the music and the dramatic challenges. Enjoy!