San Diego Opera Podcast

Our Pinkerton for this production of Madama Butterfly is Romanian tenor Teodor Ilincai. In this interview he talks about the role and, most interestingly, where his love of music and singing came from. This delightful young tenor has a budding career in Europe already, and with this production he is making his U.S. debut.

Soprano Latonia Moore, our Aida in the 2013 Season, returns to sing the role of Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly. Here she speaks about her life and career since then as well as her outlook on trends in American opera. 

Mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges plays the role of Cio Cio San's maid, Suzuki, in our production of Madama Butterfly. Her background is fascinating (from sports to opera!), her conservatory training exemplary and her voice is...luscious! Enjoy this interview. 

Fresh from the Ryan Center for young artists at Chicago Lyric Opera, Kentucky native Anthony Clark Evans is a singer with a big career ahead of him. He's making his role debut as Sharpless, the American consul, in Madama Butterfly. In this interview with Nic Reveles he talks about his experience as a singer so far and assesses the role in approaching it as a young artist. 

Welsh tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones has a lot to say about the tenor voice, his lirico-spinto forebears like Gigli and Martinelli, as well as the role of Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca. Enjoy this interview as we look forward to his performances, opening this weekend!

Maestro Zanetti was last with us in 2014, conducting A Masked Ball by Verdi. Some of you will remember, this was a tough time for the company. The maestro reflects on that moment of our history, as well as on the genius of Puccini and his love of Tosca. 

Our Tosca this season, soprano Alexia Voulgaridou, has been singing this role to great success all over the world, as well as roles such as Cio-Cio San, Marguerite and Liu. In this interview, she discusses Tosca with a very fresh 'take' on who this character really is.

Stage director Lesley Koenig was last with us when she directed a terrific production of Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) for us in 2014. She's back as the stage director of our current production of Tosca. In this interview she speaks about the piece itself as well as shares a bit of the process that she goes through in order to approach such a well-known opera in a fresh and engaging way.

Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley is back in one of his favorite roles: Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca. In this interview he talks about the character and reflects a bit on what it is that makes this role so fulfilling and downright fun for him to sing!

Our favorite bass-baritone returns for one of his favorite roles: Greer Grimsley sings Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca. Greer has some definite ideas about who this character is, what motivates him and how to sing him. Tune in to our first podcast of the 2016 season!