The Ghost Light Podcast (Utah Symphony | Utah Opera)

Fate pervaded 19th-century Romantic music, from “fate knocking at the door” in the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, through the Fate theme of Bizet’s Carmen, to the world-shattering hammer blows of Mahler’s “Tragic” Symphony. Nowhere is Fate more personal, or more deeply intertwined with the struggle between despair and hope, than in Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. Composed in 1888, the symphony traces a journey from a dark, almost funereal opening to a triumphant finale, with Fate woven through all four movements. But is this a triumph over Fate, or a resignation to its power? Jeff and Carol wrestle with this question just as Tchaikovsky did in his twilight years.

Listen to Glenn Miller’s rendition of the 2nd movement horn solo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej1ZxzZWaCw

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

You’ve seen him in the movies, you’ve read about him in graphic novels, and you’ve known about his exploits all your life. Héctor Armienta’s 2022 opera Zorro brings this legendary hero of old California to the stage with a unique blend of Mexican musical influences and operatic lyricism. In our first opera prelude of the season, Jeff and Carol explore the legend of Zorro and discuss how Armienta’s version goes beyond the mask to tell a story of love, resistance, and revolution.

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

Rick Steves is a name that is synonymous with travel-and he’s been on the road since age 14. Many of us, especially those of us who love public television, are familiar with the immense pool of travel resources he’s built, but how many of you know Rick started as a piano teacher? In his multimedia concert experience, Rick Steves: A Symphonic Journey, Rick combines his love of music with his passion for travel and his intimate knowledge of European culture. Jeff and Carol were delighted (especially Carol, who never travels without a Rick Steves guidebook in hand) to catch Rick between trips to talk about the intersection of travel and culture, and the importance of becoming a global citizen.

Follow Rick on his travel adventures on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ricksteveseurope or Instagram and TikTok @ricksteveseurope.

Extensive resources and information about Rick Steves: A Symphonic Journey can be found at https://www.ricksteves.com/symphony

Provincial, humble, deeply religious, and just a little bit neurotic, Anton Bruckner often flies under the symphonic radar for many audiences. Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, composed by one of music’s most unique, and dare we say, underappreciated voices, anchors Utah Symphony’s season finale, conducted by Markus Poschner, Utah Symphony’s Music Director Designate and a recognized Bruckner specialist. In this deep dive, Jeff and Carol explore Bruckner’s strange little life and examine his works of towering scale and spiritual intensity.

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

A favorite of opera audiences for over 170 years, Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata is undoubtedly THE archetypal Italian operatic tragedy. In the final opera prelude of season 10, Jeff and Carol discuss consumption, courtesans, and catastrophic romance.

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghost Light podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

We recently sat down (virtually) with Grammy Award–winning composer and electric guitarist Steve Mackey. His inventive, genre-bending work is heard in concert halls across the country, and this May, Abravanel Hall will resonate with his electric guitar concerto Aluminum Flowers. Jeff and I had a genuinely delightful time talking with Steve about everything from skiing to musical underdogs to the compositional process, with plenty of unexpected turns along the way.

For more information on Steve’s journey and works, go to https://stevenmackey.com/ or follow him on Instagram @steven_mackey. To listen to his compositions, go to Apple Music or Spotify. Here’s a link to Banana/Dump Truck to get your listening started https://open.spotify.com/album/0rcLidQQaOkBFzr9Vv3wbW?si=rQUi69HjTE6V2OLaBbTqug

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

O Fortuna-you know it the moment it begins. Carmina Burana has become one of the most recognizable works in classical music, echoing far beyond the concert hall into film, television, and pop culture. In this episode, Jeff and Carol explore the musical and thorny political legacy of Carl Orff and dig into the music, text, and structure of this choral bacchanal. From rowdy drinking songs to moments of unexpected lyric beauty, Carmina Burana is a mosaic of the human experience, earthy, ecstatic, and unapologetically bold.

To explore a few of our favorite pop culture moments

2007 Gatorade commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlEv34dKVI

O Fortuna misheard lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y88vF0l8FDo

Trailer to the 1989 film Glory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OS-OE1EcHI

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

To borrow a familiar saying, all roads, and this week, all podcasts, lead to Rome. Jeff and Carol take us on a virtual tour of the Eternal City as they explore Respighi’s orchestral showpiece, The Pines of Rome. With its brilliant orchestration, virtuosic writing, and vivid musical postcards of Roman landmarks, this tone poem has long been a favorite of audiences and orchestral musicians alike.

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

For more than three decades, Utah Opera’s Resident Artist Program has been an important part of the company’s work on stage and in the community. Based in Salt Lake City, these young artists travel throughout Utah performing in schools and community settings, sharing their passion for opera with audiences across the state. The program also provides a bridge between academic training and a professional career. Alumni now perform on stages around the world and pursue careers across the musical field as educators, performers, and administrators. Today Jeff and Carol sit down with tenor Daniel O’Hearn, currently performing Nemorino in The Elixir of Love. to reflect on life after the Resident Artist program and the journey from young artist to working professional.

Follow Daniel’s career at https://www.danielohearntenor.com/ or on Instagram @danielohearntenor. His short album “Un doux clair de lune,” featuring Utah Opera’s Principal Coach Deborah Robertson, can be streamed on Spotify at https://bit.ly/4ltDVs2

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

What happens to a shy, lovelorn tenor when his soprano crush gets distracted by a swaggering baritone? Well, one thing is for sure...it’s going to take to a fast-talking con man and his magical “love potion” to save the day and give us a happy ending. Underneath all the laughter and farce lies a surprisingly tender story of longing and sincerity, delivered in Donizetti’s quintessential bel canto style. In this latest Ghost Light Opera Prelude, Jeff and Carol uncork Donizetti’s effervescent comedy and explore why this sparkling gem continues to intoxicate audiences nearly two centuries later.

Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah.

To submit a question to our team, or suggest a topic for an upcoming episode, send an email to [email protected]

USUO’s Ghostlight podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.