Episodes
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Trying desperately to return home alive from the Trojan War, King Idomeneo makes a terrible promise to the sea god from the deck of his storm-ravaged ship. The consequence of his promise is worse than he could imagine, and only after many twists does he achingly find his way to peace. The emotional depth of the characters of Idomeneo gives Mozart ample opportunity to demonstrate his compositional powers in this, his first fully mature and unquestionably successful opera.
Hosted by Pat, with guest co-host Gerald Malone
Gerald Malone is the Opera Critic of the UK online current affairs and cultural publication, ReactionLife.
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It’s a battle for the fate of the universe as the Dark Side plots, schemes, and fights to gain dominance over the Light Side.
Though this opera predates Mozart’s The Magic Flute by several decades, you may find echoes here of Mozart’s beloved work, as it is also heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment and the principles of Freemasonry. Jean-Philippe Rameau was the pre-eminent French composer of his day, and close with thinkers such as Voltaire. Rameau’s librettist for Zoroastre, Louis de Cahusac, was the secretary for the Grand Master of the Freemasonry’s Grand Lodge in Paris.
Join Pat and Grant for a deep dive into this grand, mythical story’s cosmic stakes and spiritual resonances.
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Episodes manquant?
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Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”) is, by any measure, one of the most popular, successful, and well-known operas ever written, delighting adults and children alike. Yet experiencing Mozart’s The Magic Flute has left countless opera-goers reflecting contentedly on the sumptuous musical feast, but scratching their heads over the plot and characters. With the help of conductor Ben Manis, Opera for Everyone takes a close look at both Mozart’s musical genius and a narrative journey into a fantastical and dreamlike world. In this realm of magic and incarnate forces, we try to discover what can be understood, and what must simply be felt and experienced.
Hosted by Pat and Conductor Ben Manis
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Of all the love stories ever told, none quite compare to the enduring power of Romeo and Juliet.
Over four centuries ago, English playwright William Shakespeare crafted a timeless story harnessing both the powers of profound love and deep hatred, and his tale of “star-crossed lovers” has become an inspiration to countless artists. Two and a half centuries later, French composer Charles Gounod and his librettists took Shakespeare’s play as a starting point, and crafted it into an exquisitely beautiful and heart-rending opera. Join us for an in-depth discussion of how this story plays out as a French grand opéra.
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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An unscrupulous king pressures a woman to marry him. She resists, knowing her heart belongs to the man who truly loves her, the chief general in the king’s army. Into this love-triangle, toss in a scheming underling of the king, a sympathetic maid of the woman, a devoted best friend of the general, and you have all the ingredients for a gripping story. Enhance the whole tale with a magnificent score, and you have a delightful opera, and, in fact, the first fully successful opera by the most prolific composer of the Bel Canto style, Gaetano Donizetti. Though Donizetti composed 70 operas, only a small number of those are regularly staged these days. We invite you to meet Zoraida di Granata, and enjoy an early work from a beloved composer.
Hosted by Pat and Janet
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KHOL in Jackson WY is Opera for Everyone’s home radio station, and Wyoming’s only community radio station. If you have ever wanted to support Opera for Everyone, please consider supporting KHOL at 891KHOL.org/donate.
June 15 marks the beginning of KHOL’s summer membership drive.
Thank you everyone!
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“The course of true love never did run smooth.” Shakespeare’s iconic "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" gives us some of the Bard’s most memorable (and ridiculous) characters and situations. Benjamin Britten, together with his partner Peter Pears, so appreciated the merits of Shakespeare’s play that they faithfully adapted the script into a libretto for Britten’s 1960 opera of the same name.
The good-natured story shifts among fairy and human characters and their antics on a midsummer night. Observing the chaos, Puck, puckish henchman to the fairy king, exclaims, “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” True enough, but there’s plenty of entertaining foolishness here from mortals and fairies alike. And, after all, doesn’t love make fools of us all?
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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Was it only a dream?
Baroque composer Henry Purcell was on his way to establishing a national operatic tradition based on the dramatic and musical traditions of the English, when, alas, his life was cut short after just 36 years. Join us as we explore Purcell’s musically and emotionally rich “The Fairy Queen,” a delightful twist on the Bard’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare was content to end his tale with ambiguity, and so must we content ourselves with what Purcell has given us, and not indulge in the fantasy of what might have been had he enjoyed additional years composing.
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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Where passion joins with music and poetry we find opera. In this sweet spot, we also find What We Need Is Here, the most recent project by accomplished musician and singer, Lisa Reagan. Lisa joins us to talk about creating an album of songs for classic poems that have been meaningful to her life.
Lisa Reagan spent twenty years singing with the Washington National Opera and her first performance there was in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, an opera of epic scope and dramatic extremes. Join Pat, Kathleen and Lisa for a close look at this powerful opera and the varieties of human experience it explores.
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen, with special guest Lisa Reagan
For more on Lisa Reagan and her album What We Need Is Here, visit lisareagan.com
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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Two things never go out of fashion: opera and mystery. In this episode, mystery writer and former opera violinist Erica Miner talks with us about her opera mystery series and Lulu, Berg’s high-body-count melodrama. Lulu, which features prominently in Erica’s new novel, centers on a beautiful young woman whose admirers descend into obsession. Join us for a fascinating discussion of the nuts and bolts of opera, how it has informed Erica’s writings, and a close look at Berg’s masterpiece.
Erica Miner is the author of Prelude to Murder, the second book in the Julia Kogan Opera Mystery Series. For more on Erica, visit ericaminer.com
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In Amahl and the Night Visitors, a young boy and his mother unexpectedly play host to the Magi on their way to meet the infant Jesus. Originally written for television, this opera uniquely bridges the ancient and modern in a heartfelt exploration of the meaning of hospitality.
In the second half of this episode, we are joined by Grant to talk about the role of Epiphany in the Christmas story, and enjoy some of the more beloved songs associated with the timeless story of the Magi.
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen.
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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By turns funny, serious, and seriously funny, L’Italiana in Algeri is a fascinating assembly of romantic tropes: a spurned wife, a shipwrecked lover, a pirate king, and a daring escape. At the same time, it deals with serious themes of agency, power, and silence. Set in a world that is both alien and familiar, this opera has something to say to all of us.
Guest co-host Emily Cohen, executive director of Opera For Everyone’s home station KHOL, joins us for an opera in which she once performed!
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“The face that launched a thousand ships.”
Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world, has a problem. Her husband plans to kill her, but she just wants him to fall in love with her again. She may just need a miracle to pull it off, but if anyone can do it, she can. Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal aimed for a light and comic operetta with Die Ägyptische Helena, but delivered a profound and dramatic work of art about the road to repairing broken relationships.
Hosted by Pat, Kathleen, and Grant
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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One of the top ten most-performed operas in the world, Puccini’s Tosca is considered by some the greatest of operas. A painter provides refuge for an escaped political prisoner, which begins a chain of events that starts with petty jealousy and ends in a death leap. Things spiral further and further out of control in this epic confrontation of tyranny and passion, set in the tempestuous era of the Napoleonic Wars. Join Pat and Greg for an in-depth discussion of the story and the power of this masterpiece.
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Richard Wagner’s style is one of the most distinctive and recognizable in all of opera. But Wagner wasn’t always the Wagner we’ve come to know. The earliest of Wagner’s operas to be performed in his lifetime was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Das Liebesverbot, where he is still developing his craft and working on his relationship to German opera. The result is an opera which does not shy away from Italian styles. It even makes the villain of the piece the one German character among a multitude of Italians bumping up against the moral codes of their city, Palermo, Sicily! Discover this infrequently performed opera with us, learning about how Wagner became Wagner… and experiencing a lively story of the conflict between personal morality and the enforcement of communal rules.
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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At once a sweeping story about humanity and a deeply personal look at a married couple with unfulfilled aspirations, Die Frau Ohne Schatten is often considered the magnum opus of the famed partnership between composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Moving between lofty, other-worldly, and gritty settings, this opera simultaneously puzzles and inspires audiences. Being human, this opera tells us, is a messy business, but ultimately, the greatest pursuit and prize in all creation.
Hosted by Pat and Kathleen
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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One of history’s most infamous women, Lucrezia Borgia has inspired artists, dramatists, and TV show writers for centuries. Donizetti’s opera follows the play by Victor Hugo, telling of Lucrezia’s effort to find the kind of love that might change her life. However, it isn’t easy being a powerful woman in Renaissance Italy. Gaetano Donizetti, a prolific composer in the Bel Canto style, gives us an opera with a fascinating story, and, of course, “beautiful singing.”
Hosted by Pat, Kathleen, and Grant
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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“Double, double toil and trouble.”
Composer Giuseppi Verdi enthusiastically declared that Shakespeare’s Macbeth “is one of the greatest creations of man!” Harnessing this passionate admiration, he went on to craft the first of his three completed operas based on Shakespeare plays. Verdi’s Macbeth is full of powerful choral pieces, arias from a royal couple lurching toward self-destruction, and Verdi’s own personal vision of a people yearning to free themselves from despotic oppression. In the end, Macbeth concludes that life is “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” but to Verdi, the tyrant’s downfall brings soaring triumph to a suffering people, and perhaps something closer to self-determination.
Hosted by Pat & Kathleen Van De Wille
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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One of the world’s most formidable generals and one of history’s most beguiling politicians are joined by two frustrated young men and an irresistible widow in Handel’s Baroque masterpiece, Giulio Cesare in Egitto. Join Pat, Kathleen, and Grant for a journey through history, literature, and myth in exploring the influences and meaning of this enduring opera.
For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.
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One of the world’s most beloved operas, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, is not only the focus of this episode, but also the inspiration for Elly Uncomposed: A Novel Opera, a magical realist novel by author and retired opera singer, Valerie Niemerg. Like the opera Figaro, some truly serious and important topics are addressed in Elly Uncomposed, but with a charmingly comical touch.
Join Valerie and Pat for a wide-ranging conversation about her delightful book, stories about her time in professional opera, and an exploration of Le Nozze di Figaro.
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