Seattle Opera Podcast

Stage Manager Yasmine Kiss and Assistant Stage Manager Cris Reynolds chatted during an intermission of Siegfried when Seattle Opera re-broadcast its 2005 RING cycle on KING-FM in February. Listen to their stories about what it's like backstage getting costumes, props, scenery, human beings, and livestock organized for their onstage appearances.

Violinist Kathy Boyer and horn soloist Mark Robbins chatted during an intermission of Siegfried when Seattle Opera re-broadcast its 2005 RING cycle on KING-FM in February. Listen to their stories of playing this brilliant opera and the various challenges it has presented them over the years.

Lighting Designer Connie Yun and Master Carpenter Tim Buck (who designed the RING's fire & flight effects) chatted during an intermission of DIE WALKÜRE when Seattle Opera re-broadcast its 2005 RING cycle on KING-FM in February. They discuss how to make mermaids swim, mountain ledges burn, and Seattle's long RING tradition.

Bassoon player Paul Rafanelli and violinist Jeannie Wells Yablonsky chatted during an intermission of DIE WALKÜRE when Seattle Opera re-broadcast its 2005 RING cycle on KING-FM in February. Listen to their perspective on playing these operas and Seattle's long RING tradition.

At Seattle Opera we had the great good fortune to work with the late great bass Arthur Woodley many times over 25 years. In this podcast, which will also air on KING FM during the intermission of BORIS GODUNOV on January 9, Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean shares some of Arthur Woodley's extraordinary vocal performances and memories of this beloved singer.

Archival clips featuring the Seattle Opera orchestra, chorus, and soloists from performances of Bluebeard's Castle, 2009, conducted by Evan Rogister; The Marriage of Figaro, 2009, conducted by Dean Williamson; Julius Caesar, 2007, conducted by Gary Thor Wedow; Il trovatore, 2010, conducted by Yves Abel; Fidelio, 2012, conducted by Asher Fisch; La bohème, 2013, conducted by Carlo Monatanaro, and Lucia di Lammermoor, 2010, conducted by Bruno Cinquegrani.

Francesca Zambello recalled the extraordinary adventure of making an opera from the literary world of the great Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez during an intermission chat with Christina Scheppelmann. Zambello, General Director of Washington National Opera and Glimmerglass Festival, is also a stage director who has given Seattle Opera many wonderful productions.This podcast also features musical clips from Seattle Opera performances of FLORENCIA.

Donald Byrd, Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater, has choreographed several productions for Seattle Opera over the years. Just before the pandemic began he made valuable choreographic contributions to CHARLIE PARKER'S YARDBIRD. General Director Christina Scheppelmann interviewed Byrd for a "Seattle Opera Mornings on KING FM" re-broadcast of his Seattle Opera debut, our 2007 production of Handel's GIULIO CESARE.

Vinson Cole decided to be an opera singer when he was 9 years old. Beginning in 1988, with his spectacular debut as Gluck's Orphée (Seattle Opera's first-ever Baroque opera and first-ever modern dress production) the tenor became something of a star-in-residence in the Emerald City. He sang a lead role almost every year in Seattle, excelling in a huge swath of repertoire. General Director Christina Scheppelmann interviewed Cole, who lives now where he grew up, in Kansas City, when "Seattle Opera Mornings on KING FM" re-broadcast his fateful, dazzling performance of ORPHÉE.

Seattle Opera General Director Christina Scheppelmann spoke with soprano Jane Eaglen when "Seattle Opera Mornings on KING FM" played TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, a 1998 production that featured role debuts for both Eaglen (as Isolde) and Ben Heppner (as Tristan). Eaglen describes that eventful summer, what it's like to sing the Liebestod from Isolde's point of view, and the importance of a prompter!

Peter Kazaras has been a mainstay of Seattle Opera since his 1985 debut onstage singing the role of Steva in JENŮFA. His debut as a stage director came in 2003. As Artistic Director of Seattle Opera's Young Artists Program from 2005 to 2013, plus his ongoing work as Director of Opera at UCLA, he has trained a generation of opera artists. For a KING FM Intermission he discussed with Jonathan Dean Verdi's FALSTAFF, an opera Kazaras first staged in 2007, for the Young Artists, and then in 2010 on Seattle Opera's mainstage.