Met Opera Guild Podcast

This Saturday, March 17th, radio audiences worldwide will have the chance to experience Richard Strauss’s ELEKTRA with Christine Goerke as Elektra and the Met’s future Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin leading the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In this episode, we hear Guild lecturer Victoria Bond explore a score that some critics have said shows off Strauss’s genius at its best!

Rossini’s SEMIRAMIDE was a popular mainstay of the Italian opera circuit in the 1820s and 30s, but we rarely see it on season rosters today. In fact, it has been almost 25 years since it’s last Met appearance! To guide us through the musical and dramatic highlights, today’s episode features Dr. Jeffrey Langford, the assistant dean for doctoral studies and chair of the music history department at M...

Just like Nicolas Cage and Cher in the 1987 film "Moonstruck," seeing Puccini’s LA BOHÈME at the Met is a decades-old New York City dating ritual. It is the number one most often performed work in Met opera history, and within the top 10 most often performed operas worldwide. on Saturday, February 24th, Zeffirelli’s famous Met production will be broadcast Live in HD to movie theatres across the gl...

Hot off the press is The Metropolitan Opera’s 2018-19 season announcement, featuring four new productions, one Met premiere, and a complete Ring Cycle! Today’s episode features a special conversation between Opera News Editor-in-Chief, F. Paul Driscoll, and Met Opera Radio’s William Berger, giving us the inside scoop on the new season.

First conceived in 1857 but not finished for 25 years, PARSIFAL was Richard Wagner’s last completed opera. This monumental work has sparked great debate among music historians and the public alike since its first performance. In this episode, John J.H. Muller examines the musical language and history of this important work.

Since 1936, Opera News magazine has given readers an inside look at the world of opera! Opera News will be interviewing three opera stars live, in front of an audience, this winter and spring. All three singers are cast in major roles at the Met this season, and we are excited to have them join us in the Singers' Studio. For today’s episode, we caught up with Opera News editor in chief F. Paul Dri...

This Puccini classic returns to the Met stage in a brand new production, starring superstar soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role and Vittorio Grigolo as her doomed lover, Cavaradossi. Lecturer Victoria Bond takes a further look into one of the most iconic operas in the repertoire.

On December 18th, the holiday production of Humperdinck’s HANSEL AND GRETEL opens at the Met. While this is often the opera of choice for families with little ones, there is much more to this work than gingerbread houses and delicious treats! The music is irresistible for audiences of all ages, with rich textures and charming melodies, tied together with Wagnerian compositional techniques. In this...

In a pre-performance lecture from our archives, stage director Jay Lesenger explores "Le nozze di Figaro," and the connections between Pierre Beaumarchais (who wrote the play on which the opera is based), Lorenzo Da Ponte (who wrote the libretto for the opera), and Mozart (who brought the story to life through music).

This season at the Met, soprano Ailyn Pérez sings the title role of Massenet's "Thaïs," which is based on a novel by Anatole France. On today's episode, Metropolitan Opera Guild lecturer Dr. Jeffrey Langford delves into the famous French opera about a monk desperate to help a seductive courtesan find religion.

Thomas Adès’ new opera "The Exterminating Angel" is on stage at the Met, with an all-star cast including Amanda Echalaz, Alice Coote, Rod Gilfry, and Audrey Luna. In preparation for the Live in HD Broadcast this coming Saturday, November 18th, here is a pre-performance lecturer Dr. W. Anthony Sheppard, giving us a deeper look at this acclaimed new work and the surrealist movie that inspired it.

Composers draw inspiration from a variety of places, but they don't always reveal their sources. In today's episode, we share the story of a long-lost source of inspiration in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, discovered by Guild lecturer W. Anthony Sheppard. Guild Lecturer Naomi Barrettara tells that story and explores more of the music in Puccini's sweeping drama.

This episode features footage from Works and Process at The Guggenheim, where Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb interviews the creative team and several cast members about Thomas Adès's opera "The Exterminating Angel," which makes its Met Opera premiere tomorrow, October 26th, 2017!

While the flute plays a particularly magical role in Mozart's DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, there is a whole orchestra of instruments bringing the music to life, each serving a unique function within the score. In this episode, Guild lecturer Naomi Barrettara and The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra's Principal Bassoonist, William Short, take us on a journey through Mozart's famous work from the perspective of the...

Bellini's NORMA is a landmark role for sopranos, and audiences always wait with baited breath to hear her glorious aria, "Casta Diva." But there is more to this opera, and to this role, than that famous aria. In today's episode, Nimet Habachy explores the notions of fidelity - to family, to religion, and to love - in Bellini's bel canto masterpiece.

Opening Night at the Met is less than a week away, and the excitement is palpable! Bellini's NORMA opens 2017-18 season, with a new production by Sir David McVicar, and an all-star cast featuring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, and Joseph Calleja, under the baton of Carlo Rizzi. Today on The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast - Your Guide to Opening Night at the Met!

On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer Naomi Barrettara concludes our tour through operatic voice types with a discussion of atypical voices. From extremely high coloraturas to countertenors, zwischenfach, contraltos, and more, this episode dives into rare and special categories that continue to wow audiences.

Operatic basses sing as low as the human voice can go! There are many different types of basses, bringing to life a large variety of roles. On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer and co-host Naomi Barrettara explores all the different types of basses and singers we find in this category of subterranean serenaders.

In the final installment of our "Divas and Dinner" series, chef, food historian, and opera enthusiast Carl Raymond explores the cuisine of Spain on the opera stage!

Pour yourself a glass of pink champagne and settle in! On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have our second installment of "Divas and Dinner" with Chef, food historian, and opera enthusiast Carl Raymond, exploring how the diva of all divas, Violetta, wined and dined her way through life!

Rossini once said: “Appetite is for the stomach what love is for the heart…. Eating, loving, singing and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera known as life.” In this episode, renowned chef, food historian, and opera enthusiast Carl Raymond explores the culinary world of Rossini’s time, and the composer’s life long love affair with decadent cuisine!

Verdi baritone, lyric baritone, dramatic baritone... What's the difference? On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, Guild lecturer and audience favorite Naomi Barrettara explores the many different kinds of baritones we find on the opera stage, highlighting the unique aspects of each vocal category and the singers that bring these roles to life.

Singers such as Rosa Ponselle, Francesco Tamagno, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Dolora Zajick have given definitive performances of Verdi’s late works, from the first OTELLO in 1887 through to the present day. What can their recordings tell us about the evolution of Verdian singing, and career-making moments on the opera stage? Find out in our final installment of the Verdi All-Stars lecture series, f...

Aprile Millo was once called “the high priestess of that old time operatic religion;" Fedora Barbieri had a fierce fan following and sang over 90 performances spanning 10 operas at The Metropolitan Opera. Franco Corelli was dubbed “The Prince of Tenors”. All three singers established themselves as reigning interpreters of the Verdian repertoire. How did they earn such a revered legacy? Find out on...

This past season, Met broadcast commentator Ira Siff delighted New York audiences with his survey of the greatest Verdi singers of the past and present. Today’s episode is the first of a three-part series from Ira’s Verdi All-Stars course, discussing performances by Marisa Galvany, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo, and other legendary stars.