San Diego Opera Podcast

Along with co-cast member Kelly Markgraf, Blythe Gaissert was there at the origin of the opera As One and has some wonderful reflections about having worked on the score and played the role of Hannah After a number of times. As an avid performer of new music she has a lot to say about the evolution of new opera today, something that we're all very excited about!

Baritone Kelly Markgraf plays the role, "Hannah Before" in the opera As One, a story of a person's transition from male to female. The opera presents Hannah as one character, but she is portrayed by two singers...a baritone and a mezzo-soprano. In this conversation with Dr. Nic he describes the opera, the role and some of the challenges that he meets in this piece as a singing actor. 

Stage director and choreographer Seán Curran has been here before...San Diego, that is! He had done the principal choreography for Opera St. Louis' Nixon in China and was the director of Salome with Lise Lindstrom a few seasons back. He is the originating director of the current production of The Pirates of Penzance and he has a delightful story to tell about its artistic evolution...from a popular children's book! Enjoy. 

What fun to welcome back bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the Pirate King, and mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance. (As Luretta points out at the end of this conversation with Dr. Nic, she made her professional debut with San Diego Opera as Mrs. Sedley in Peter Grimes 1984.) We catch up with this delightful husband-wife team in this wide ranging interview about life, love and opera. Enjoy!

Soprano Maureen McKay is back in San Diego after her wonderful portrayal of Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff earlier this year. Singing the role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance brings her closer to her musical theatre roots. Listen in and enjoy!

If you want to have 12 minutes of fun, listen in to this conversation between baritone Patrick Carfizzi and Dr. Nic as they discuss Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance"! This is comic opera at it's finest and at its most fun. Enjoy!

Daniel Catan's opera, opening March 17th, 2018, is a tale inspired as much by magical realism as by the mysterious and winding path of the Amazon River. In this brief podcast, Dr. Nic introduces the characters and tells us about the opera's main theme: love. Florencia's love of her absent lover, Cristobal, is passionate yet unfulfilled, and it is expressed through music of unusual beauty. Enjoy!

Daniel Catan's opera Florencia en el Amazonas will a highlight of our season, opening in March, 2018. In this brief podcast, Dr. Nic defines the role of magical realism in the opera, giving us an introduction as a well as a context for its unusual style and story. 

When Puccini heard the big, beautiful voice of soprano Rosa Raisa he realized that he'd heard the perfect voice for the title role in Turandot. Unfortunately he died before the premiere of the opera, and although Raisa sang the premiere at La Scala, she was soon to be overshadowed by the young British soprano, Eva Turner. Luckily we have recordings of Turner singing excerpts from the role. Hear them in this brief survey of the beginnings of this opera's history. Enjoy!

The opera As One, coming up at San Diego Opera in November this year, is one of a number of LGBT-themed operas to have premiered since 2000. In this brief discussion, Dr. Nic surveys a few of them and talks about the impact these works have made on the opera industry. An opera version of Brokeback Mountain? Yup! Watch, learn and enjoy!