San Diego Opera Podcast

Composer John Adams is universally acknowledged as one of the great opera composers of our time. We're tremendously excited to be producing his work Nixon In China (1987) in our Fiftieth Anniversary Season in March, 2015. Let's take a look and a listen to his musical style: is he a minimalist in the tradition of composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich? Nicolas Reveles asks the questions, and perhaps has a few answers for you!

The 2015 Season is a great opera season for strong female roles. Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Musetta in La boheme, and Madame Mao in Nixon in China all fit that description: strong characters, bold music! Dr. Nic spends a little time with these three women in today's podcast.

Mozart and his poet-librettist Lorenzo DaPonte created a true masterwork in Don Giovanni, the story of a libertine nobleman and his constant need to seduce and abandon every woman he meets. A sordid story, sure, but filled with incredible music and drama. Dr. Nicolas Reveles lets you in on a few operatic secrets!

In this introductory podcast to Giacomo Puccini's La boheme, Nicolas Reveles discusses why this opera is such a favorite from the repertoire and gives us a glimpse into Puccini's creative process. This is an opera filled with passion, joy, tenderness, romance and tragedy...it's got everything you could want for a great evening of musical theatre. 

Welcome to the first podcast of San Diego Opera's 2015 Season! Let's begin with a introduction to John Adams' brilliant opera, Nixon in China which premiered at Houston Opera in 1987. In this podcast, Nicolas Reveles (Director of Education and Community Engagement) talks about the origins of the opera, you'll hear a bit of the prelude to the first act, and hear about the creators' approach to this fascinating historical event. 

"...and we're back!", as Nicolas Reveles, Director of Education and Outreach says at the beginning of this podcast. And yes, we are! With your help we've been able to announce our 2015 Season with an exciting array of operas and a gala celebration of our 50th Anniversary of serving the San Diego community. Check it out...and join us!

Eduardo Chama is one of those singers that we look forward to having back again and again because he's such a delight to be around, besides being a wonderful artist onstage. In the role of Sancho Panza in Massenet's Don Quichotte, he's perfect as the sometimes comic, sometimes tragic sidekick of the title character. Listen in as Education Director Nicolas Reveles interviews Eduardo about the role and the challenges of the opera.

We've known Keturah Stickann as a choreographer and as assistant director for two San Diego Opera seasons. Now she's back as the stage director for Massenet's Don Quixote. In this revealing interview, Education Director Nicolas Reveles speaks with her about the opera, working with Ferruccio Furlanetto and telling the story through music. Enjoy!

German mezzo Anke Vondung was last with San Diego Opera as Octavian in our production of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss in 2011. We loved her then, we love her now! She is debuting the role of Dulcinea in our production of Don Quichotte, so we thought it would be interesting to hear her talk about the role itself. Enjoy this interview with an utterly charming and outgoing singer, with Nicolas Reveles. 

We welcome our favorite basso, Ferruccio Furlanetto, back to San Diego Opera to sing the title role of Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte. This is one of Furlanetto's favorite roles, along with King Philip in Don Carlo and Boris Godunov. In this interview with Director of Education Nicolas Revlees, he reflects on forty years of working in the opera world (actually to the day when this interivew was conducted!) along with advice to young singers looking to jump into a singing career. Enjoy!