The Ghost Light Podcast (Utah Symphony | Utah Opera)

It’s October, which means it’s time for the second annual Bloodcurdling Opening Opera, (aka BOO). This week, in Jeff and Carol's first Utah Opera Prelude of the podcast season, they discuss Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Shining, based on the 1977 bestseller penned by the “King of Horror.” What does it take to turn such an iconic book into a riveting operatic thriller? Join us to find out!

From its dramatic opening that gave its composer “no peace,” to its sparkling finale, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor has been delighting listeners for almost two centuries. To open the USUO Ghost Light Podcast’s tenth season, Jeff and Carol uncover the artistic partnership behind this landmark (and revolutionary) work and consider why it remains a cornerstone of the concerto repertoire.

What does it take to reimagine "Madame Butterfly" for today’s stage? Director Matthew Ozawa and mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen join us for a candid conversation about creativity, representation, and reshaping a classic from the inside out.

What does it take to reimagine Madame Butterfly for today’s stage? Director Matthew Ozawa and mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen join us for a candid conversation about creativity, representation, and reshaping a classic from the inside out.

If at first you don’t succeed, rewrite it four times—just ask Puccini. In this season’s final opera prelude, Jeff and Carol explore Madame Butterfly, from its rocky premiere to eventual triumph. They delve into the opera’s complex cultural backdrop, examine its literary roots, and confront the tension between the troubling elements within its story and its lasting popularity with opera audiences.

Mysterious cloaked figures, thoughts of poisoning, and genius cut off at its prime...the lore surrounding Mozart's Requiem, unfinished at his untimely demise, is substantial, but the truth is even more compelling. Jeff and Carol, joined by special guest Utah Symphony Chorus director Austin McWilliams, dive deep to uncover the real story behind the music.

Jeff and Carol invite musicologist Catherine Mayes to help unpack the thorny topic of exoticism and colonialism in Western Music. This is part one of a three-episode introduction to Utah Opera's upcoming production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

You've heard the aria and you've seen the iconic sad commedia clown face. Now join Jeff and Carol as they look beyond the greasepaint into the bleeding heart of Ruggero Leoncavallo's visceral opera.

This week Jeff and Carol sit down with Utah Symphony's Music Director Emeritus Thierry Fischer to talk about his upcoming Mahler mini-festival. Thierry also catches us up on his life since leaving Salt Lake City (hint: busy and fulfilling), his passion projects, and his new role of grandfather!

From riots to radicalism to Disney and dinosaurs, Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" blasted on the classical music scene in May of 1913 and has been captivating audiences ever since. In one of their Deep Dives, Jeff and Carol talk about the man behind the music, the stories around the premiere, and the music that still sounds modern more than a century later (even though it isn't).