Best Donizetti Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 122 Zoroastre by Jean-Philippe Rameau

2h ago

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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…

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About A Flute 1:32:51

3d ago1:32:51

1:32:51

Gaby Kogut joins Marc Eliot Stein to take a deep psychological dive into the meaning of Mozart's masterpiece "The Magic Flute". We talk about many things: problems this opera has in 2024, the idea of "Die Zauberflote" as a time capsule of freemasonry, the male gaze, the great Ingmar Bergman movie, Carl Jung, individuation, "Wizard of Oz", the quest…

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Ep. 121 Mozart's Die Zauberflöte 2:02:14

1M ago2:02:14

2:02:14

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…

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Ep. 120 Gounod's Roméo et Juliette 1:58:30

2M ago1:58:30

1:58:30

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 ce…

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Ep. 119 Zoraida di Granata by Donizetti 1:58:35

3M ago1:58:35

1:58:35

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 st…

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OFE Presents a Brief Conversation with KHOL's Executive Director 5:52

3M ago5:52

5:52

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!By Opera for Everyone

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Ep. 118 A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten 1:58:33

4M ago1:58:33

1:58:33

“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 B…

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Ep. 117 The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell 1:58:38

5M ago1:58:38

1:58:38

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 Mi…

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Ep. 116 Verdi's La Forza del Destino & Lisa Reagan's What We Need Is Here 2:05:58

7M ago2:05:58

2:05:58

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 Wash…

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Ep. 115 Berg's Lulu & Erica Miner's Prelude to Murder 1:58:32

8M ago1:58:32

1:58:32

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 u…

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Love and Other Drugs: Gounod's Roméo et Juliette 54:14

8M ago54:14

54:14

Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is the most famous love story in the Western canon. It’s a tale so embedded in our culture — one that has seen so many iterations and retellings — it might feel hard to appreciate its original pathos, and the way it perfectly distills the intersections of young romance, idealism, and rebellion. In this episode, host…

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You Don't Own Me: The Myth and Magic of Bizet's Carmen 53:47

9M ago53:47

53:47

Carmen is maybe the most famous heroine in all of opera. She’s a woman of Romani descent living in 19th century Spain, sensual and self-confident, aware of the power she wields over men — and she enjoys it. In her signature aria, popularly known as the “Habanera,” she describes herself as a bird who can’t be captured. True to her own word, Carmen —…

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Ep. 114 Amahl and the Night Visitors 1:58:27

9M ago1:58:27

1:58:27

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…

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A Chorus in Brooklyn 1:21:44

9M ago1:21:44

1:21:44

There's nothing like singing in an opera chorus. Marc Eliot Stein and Ted Shulman talk about their participation in Regina Opera's production of Verdi's "Rigoletto" in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and the special ways a chorus can illuminate or enliven a classic opera. We chat about "Nabucco", "Turandot", "Parsifal", "Les Contes d'Hoffmann", "Orfeo ed Eu…

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Revisiting Mozart’s Queen of the Night: Outrage Out of This World 27:11

9M ago27:11

27:11

When the Voyager spacecraft set off to explore the galaxy in 1977, it carried a recording to represent the best of humanity. The “Golden Record” featured everyone from Bach to Chuck Berry, but there was only one opera aria: the rage-fest and coloratura masterpiece from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” As Kathryn Lewek reprises her role as Queen of the N…

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

10M 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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Ep. 113 L’Italiana in Algeri by Rossini 1:58:13

10M ago1:58:13

1:58:13

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…

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

10M 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

11M 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

11M 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

12M 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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Ep. 112 The Egyptian Helen by Richard Strauss 2:09:00

12M ago2:09:00

2:09:00

“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 oper…

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Aria Code Returns for Season 4! 2:00

12M 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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Ep. 111 Tosca by Giacomo Puccini 1:58:35

1y ago1:58:35

1:58:35

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 tyra…

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Ep. 110 Das Liebesverbot by Wagner 2:04:06

1y ago2:04:06

2:04:06

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 relationsh…

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Ep. 109 Die Frau Ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss 1:58:29

1y ago1:58:29

1:58:29

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 simultane…

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Ep. 108 Lucrezia Borgia by Donizetti 2:00:34

1+ y ago2:00:34

2:00:34

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 proli…

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Talking to an Influential Fairy 1:29:10

1+ y ago1:29:10

1:29:10

In Gilbert and Sullivan’s fairy opera “Iolanthe” empowered magical women crash into toxic privileged masculinity in 19th century London. Marc Eliot Stein interviews New York City singer and actress Casey Keeler about her role as the powerful Fairy Queen in a recent Village Light Opera Group "Iolanthe". We also talk about “Utopia, Limited”, communit…

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Ep. 107 Macbeth by Verdi 1:58:34

1+ y ago1:58:34

1:58:34

“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 roya…

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Ep. 106 Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Handel 1:57:48

1+ y ago1:57:48

1:57:48

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 endur…

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Ep. 105 The Marriage of Figaro and Elly Uncomposed with Valerie Niemerg 1:59:02

1+ y ago1:59:02

1:59:02

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 wit…

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Ep. 104 Nabucco by Verdi 1:58:40

1+ y ago1:58:40

1:58:40

A people yearns for freedom. The power of their prayers, set to Verdi’s incomparable music, have stirred audiences ever since the première of Nabucco in 1842. The impact of this opera may relate to Verdi’s own struggle to overcome personal tragedies preceding the composition the music. It also resonates with the passions of the Italian people of hi…

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Ep. 46 Remastered: Handel’s Messiah OFE Holiday Special 1:58:31

2y ago1:58:31

1:58:31

Handel’s beloved Messiah, known for its thrilling Hallelujah Chorus, is a long-standing favorite during the Christmas season. Neither an opera, nor Christmas music, this English-language oratorio was composed for the Easter Season and premièred in Dublin in 1842. The magnificent text was crafted from the King James Bible by Handel’s friend, Charles…

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Ep. 103 OFE Presents Opera Mysteries with Erica Miner 1:58:51

2y ago1:58:51

1:58:51

Have you ever asked what might be going on backstage at an opera house? Or wondered about what secrets hide behind those glittering stages? Drawing on 21 years as a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera, Erica Miner guides her readers through a dramatized version of the opera world in her mystery novel, Aria for Murder, the first in the “Julia Kogan …

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Ep. 102 Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II 2:04:11

2y ago2:04:11

2:04:11

Glittering and gloriously tuneful, Die Fledermaus (“The Bat”) is the most enduring operetta of Vienna’s famous “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss II. Its plot features revenge, infidelity, disguised identities, and a glamorous ball at its center, given by a wealthy host who requires his guests to keep the party lively. Toasting “King Champagne,” the char…

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Ep. 101 Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi 1:58:22

2y ago1:58:22

1:58:22

Masks, both literal and figurative, abound in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, “A Masked Ball.” Conspirators feign support of a leader they despise. A noblewoman must veil both her face and her feelings from her husband. The governor must put on a disguise to understand his subjects, and his beloved. The governor’s chief councilor dons a mask to take …

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Ep. 100 Oedipus Rex and Persephone by Stravinsky 1:58:06

2y ago1:58:06

1:58:06

A beloved king becomes reviled by his family and his people as previously hidden dark deeds come to light. A young woman loses her innocence and freedom through the machinations of the lord of the underworld. The timeless ancient Greek stories of King Oedipus and Persephone captured the imagination of Igor Stravinsky, a composer unafraid to present…

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Ep. 99 Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria by Monteverdi 2:14:44

2y ago2:14:44

2:14:44

There is no secular story nearly so important to the Western tradition as the Odyssey, a timeless tale of heroism, achievement, and loss. The subject matter of this epic poem has found its way into many works of art, and likely the earliest opera adaptation was Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, first performed in 1639 in the city of Venic…

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Hoffmann and His Muse 42:16

2+ y ago42:16

42:16

Jacques Offenbach’s masterpiece “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” is an existential psychological comic opera, a morality tale about an aesthete who destroys himself over a fanciful love of three women. In the last episode of Season 3, Marc Eliot Stein talks about Jewish composers in Paris, “Faust”, drinking songs, Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan, Zarzuela, sex…

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Ep. 98 La Donna del Lago by Rossini 1:58:41

2+ y ago1:58:41

1:58:41

We all know that feeling when we want to marry one rebel leader, but our father wants us to marry the chief rebel leader, but then one day a wandering king disguised as a huntsman starts chatting us up on the moors. With this timeless and relatable set-up (based on a poem by Sir Walter Scott that is credited with starting the Scottish Romantic move…

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Ep. 97 OFE Meets Maestro Joseph Rescigno, ft Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss 1:58:57

2+ y ago1:58:57

1:58:57

Meet Maestro Joseph Rescigno–gentleman, author, and opera conductor extraordinaire. The Maestro joins OFE for this wide-ranging discussion of the how, what, and why of conducting opera. Drawing on material from his book, Conducting Opera: Where Theater Meets Music, and a lifetime of conducting opera around the world, Maestro Rescigno brings a uniqu…

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