Best Back Und Stage Podcasts (2023)

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Love Takes Flight: Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas 52:54

4h ago52:54

52:54

It’s the early 1900s, and the steamship El Dorado makes its way along the Amazon River towards Manaus, a city in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. Onboard is the world-famous opera singer Florencia Grimaldi. She’s got a gig at the opera house in Manaus, but that’s just a cover. She’s actually hoping for a reunion with her long-lost love, the b…

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Davis’s X: The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X 45:50

14d ago45:50

45:50

Malcolm X led many lives within his 39 years: as a bereaved but precocious child; as an imprisoned convict; as a firebrand spokesperson for the Nation of Islam and Black nationalism; and ultimately as one of the most pivotal figures of the Civil Rights movement. Today, he continues to inspire passion and controversy, his legacy as nuanced as the ma…

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Revisiting Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice: Don’t Look Back in Ardor 32:55

28d ago32:55

32:55

If a loved one were to die, how far would you be willing to go to bring them back? Orpheus, the ancient Greek musician, goes to hell and back to have the love of his life, Eurydice, by his side again. The gods cut a deal with Orpheus: he can bring his love back from hell, but all throughout the journey, she has to follow behind him and he is not al…

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Good Things Come to Those Who Weep: Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore 42:09

1M ago42:09

42:09

“L’Elisir d’Amore” — “The Elixir of Love” — is what’s known as an opera buffa, or comic opera. That means that we’re in for a happy ending. But Donizetti knows that the payoff is only earned through the suffering of his protagonists. In one pivotal moment, our hero Nemorino glimpses his beloved shedding a single tear — and he concludes (crazily, bu…

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Death, Faith, and Redemption: Heggie’s Dead Man Walking 44:58

2M ago44:58

44:58

What does redemption mean to a man sentenced to death? Is capital punishment justice or vengeance? Could anyone ever forgive a murderer? These are just some of the questions behind the true story of the nun who became a spiritual adviser to men on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Dead Man Walking was first a 1993 memoir by the Catholi…

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Aria Code Returns for Season 4! 2:00

2M ago2:00

2:00

At last! After much anticipation, Aria Code returns! We’re guiding listeners through highlights from the Metropolitan Opera’s 2023-2024 season, pairing beloved classics with investigations into modern masterpieces. So get ready for a night at the opera — from the comfort of your own home. (Or wherever!) Arias from the likes of Jake Heggie’s Dead Ma…

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P.S. I Love You: Renée Fleming Sings Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin 51:13

2y ago51:13

51:13

Saying “I love you” for the first time takes courage, especially when you don’t know the response you'll get. But being open with your emotions and putting yourself out there can change you in unexpected ways. In Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, it’s the 16-year-old Tatyana who pins her heart on her sleeve. Young and naive, but also fierce…

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To Be Or Not To Be: Dean's Hamlet 41:58

2y ago41:58

41:58

“To be or not to be, that is the question.” It’s hard to think of a more famous line from a more famous play. In this iconic speech from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the troubled Danish prince asks whether this whole life thing is even worth it. But “to be or not to be'' is not the only question we’re asking this week. When everyone knows this line so wel…

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Potion, Emotion, Devotion: Wagner's Tristan und Isolde 39:46

2y ago39:46

39:46

When we talk about “falling in love,” we talk about it like it is something that just happens. Suddenly the ground opens up and we are falling for somebody, as if there is no choice in the matter. This is everywhere -- in movies, TV shows, novels, and of course, in opera. Take Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde - while Tristan is bringing her across the I…

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Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones: A Boy of Peculiar Grace 42:45

2y ago42:45

42:45

This week we’re decoding with the man who wrote the code - Terence Blanchard, composer of Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Not only is it the work that reopened the Met after its 18-month pandemic shutdown, but it’s also the first opera by a Black composer ever to be performed there. Based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by New York Times columnist Ch…

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Verdi's Nabucco: By the Rivers of Babylon 44:16

2y ago44:16

44:16

Psalm 137 depicts the ancient Hebrews, enslaved and weeping “by the rivers of Babylon,” as they remember their homeland, Jerusalem. Those words have inspired songwriters of reggae, Broadway, disco, folk and more, but one of the most memorable versions is featured in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Nabucco. The opera retells the story of the Babylonian capti…

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Once More Into the Breeches: Joyce DiDonato Sings Strauss 32:38

2y ago32:38

32:38

The young Composer in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos is one of opera’s great trouser roles -- a female singer playing the part of a young man. He is set to premiere his new opera at the home of the richest man in Vienna, only to learn moments before the performance that a bawdy comedy troupe will be performing at the same time. As his plans collapse a…

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Breaking Mad: Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor 1:04:20

2+ y ago1:04:20

1:04:20

People who go to see Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor spend the entire evening waiting for the famous Mad Scene, to hear the soprano’s incredible acrobatics, and to feel her intense emotional changes over the course of the lengthy showstopper. But the Mad Scene is more than a vocal showpiece: it’s a window into what it means to lose touch wi…

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Crisis in the Kremlin: Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov 33:57

2+ y ago33:57

33:57

Perhaps no opera better reflects the questions and contradictions at the heart of Russian history than Modest Mussorgsky’s historical epic Boris Godunov. Based on the play by Alexander Pushkin (considered by many to be one of Russia’s greatest writers), it’s a meditation on power and legitimacy, and a portrayal of a pivotal period in Russian histor…

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Only the Good Die Young: Verdi's La Traviata 37:39

2+ y ago37:39

37:39

One of opera’s great heroines is based on one of history’s extraordinary women. The 19th century French courtesan Marie Duplessis was elegant, successful, famous, and gone before her time, dying of tuberculosis at the age of 23. One of her lovers, Alexandre Dumas fils, was so inspired by her that he wrote a novel and a play about her life called Th…

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Guys and Dolls: Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann 40:17

2+ y ago40:17

40:17

What makes us human? As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, technology is becoming even more integrated into the fabric of daily life, and better able to simulate real human interactions. But what really separates humans from machines is our ability to love, to dream, and to believe in an illusion. In Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, t…

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Strauss's Elektra: Waltzing With a Vengeance 43:43

2+ y ago43:43

43:43

Note: This episode includes descriptions of childhood sexual assault. The drive for revenge can be all-consuming, especially when you or someone you love has been wronged. Outcast and distraught, the title character in Richard Strauss’s Elektra is obsessed with avenging the murder of her father. And because the story is based on a Greek myth, and G…

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Puccini's Tosca: Death is But a Dream 27:47

2+ y ago27:47

27:47

It’s not easy to talk about death. We associate dying with so much suffering and loss. But for many people, the end of life is full of peaceful remembrance of the moments and relationships that have meant the most. For the leading man in Puccini’s Tosca, that’s the sweetness and beauty of his beloved. Caught up in the messy politics of his time, Ma…

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Handel's Agrippina: Nice Romans Finish Last 37:38

2+ y ago37:38

37:38

In order to be a Roman Emperor, you had to be entirely cold-blooded. It was a violent world of infighting, ruthless slander, and take-no-prisoners politics -- a world where rulers would kill a million people and enslave a million more just to flex their power. This was the Game of Thrones setting that George Frideric Handel chose for Agrippina. The…

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Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress: I Walk the Line 46:23

2+ y ago46:23

46:23

Almost three hundred years ago, the English artist William Hogarth created a series of paintings called A Rake’s Progress, which tell the tragic story of a man whose life spirals out of control after inheriting an unexpected fortune. He leaves behind a fiancée, and it is her story of devotion that reverberates through Igor Stravinsky’s opera The Ra…

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Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro: Count On a Reckoning 37:29

2+ y ago37:29

37:29

Maybe you’ve heard this one before: a powerful man abuses his privilege and wealth to exploit the women in his life. When confronted with the fact that they’re not his playthings, he throws a fit and blames everyone but himself. Sound like your daily news alert? It’s Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, but somehow the world of feudal Spain in the 1700…

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Rossini's Barber of Seville: On a Wig and a Prayer 41:02

2+ y ago41:02

41:02

Chances are, you know the overture to The Barber of Seville (maybe from Bugs Bunny?!) but Gioachino Rossini’s most famous opera is more than a comedic romp. Embedded in the topsy-turvy tale of young love and silly disguises, there is a story of forced marriage and a woman’s determination to live a life of her choosing. We meet the heroine Rosina fo…

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Verdi's Aida: There's No Place Like Home 41:43

2+ y ago41:43

41:43

They say you can’t go home again, and Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida knows it all too well. Captured from her homeland of Ethiopia and enslaved in Egypt, she falls in love with an Egyptian warrior. Aida is torn between her love for this man and her love for her home and, because it’s opera, she ultimately chooses the tenor. In “O Patria Mia,” Aida stands on…

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Puccini's Turandot: Hope Never Sleeps 33:06

2+ y ago33:06

33:06

Sometimes, the only thing that gets us through the darkest moments is knowing that the sun will rise again on a new day. Puccini's final opera, Turandot, is about courage in the face of adversity, and love triumphing over fear. In other words, it is exactly what the world needs right now. The aria “Nessun dorma” is Prince Calaf’s declaration of lov…

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Aria Code Is Back and Bigger Than Ever! 1:28

3y ago1:28

1:28

The third season of the critically-acclaimed podcast is more expansive than the previous two, with a total of 18 new episodes released bi-weekly, starting March 10, 2021. Just like a full season at the opera house, the podcast season will cover a staggering range of music, artists, and voices -- from early works by Handel all the way to the contemp…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Back Und Stage Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Aria Code

WQXR & The Metropolitan Opera

1
Love Takes Flight: Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas 52:54

1
Davis’s X: The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X 45:50

1
Revisiting Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice: Don’t Look Back in Ardor 32:55

1
Good Things Come to Those Who Weep: Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore 42:09

1
Death, Faith, and Redemption: Heggie’s Dead Man Walking 44:58

1
Aria Code Returns for Season 4! 2:00

1
P.S. I Love You: Renée Fleming Sings Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin 51:13

1
To Be Or Not To Be: Dean's Hamlet 41:58

1
Potion, Emotion, Devotion: Wagner's Tristan und Isolde 39:46

1
Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones: A Boy of Peculiar Grace 42:45

1
Verdi's Nabucco: By the Rivers of Babylon 44:16

1
Once More Into the Breeches: Joyce DiDonato Sings Strauss 32:38

1
Breaking Mad: Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor 1:04:20

1
Crisis in the Kremlin: Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov 33:57

1
Only the Good Die Young: Verdi's La Traviata 37:39

1
Guys and Dolls: Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann 40:17

1
Strauss's Elektra: Waltzing With a Vengeance 43:43

1
Puccini's Tosca: Death is But a Dream 27:47

1
Handel's Agrippina: Nice Romans Finish Last 37:38

1
Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress: I Walk the Line 46:23

1
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro: Count On a Reckoning 37:29

1
Rossini's Barber of Seville: On a Wig and a Prayer 41:02

1
Verdi's Aida: There's No Place Like Home 41:43

1
Puccini's Turandot: Hope Never Sleeps 33:06

1
Aria Code Is Back and Bigger Than Ever! 1:28

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