Best Marc Eliot Stein Podcasts (2024)

1
A Chorus in Brooklyn 1:21:44

7M 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…

1
Talking to an Influential Fairy 1:29:10

1y 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…

1
Hoffmann and His Muse 42:16

2y 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…

1
Giovanni and Kierkegaard 1:13:35

2+ y ago1:13:35

1:13:35

What should we do with Mozart’s problematic masterpiece “Don Giovanni” in the 21st century? Vicki Zunitch joins Marc Eliot Stein to talk about the moral situations portrayed in the famous story of a sociopathic charmer and rapist brought to justice by a stone statue, with a focus on all the characters caught in his web: Anna, Elvira, Zerlina, Maset…

1
Canio and Corleone 41:05

2+ y ago41:05

41:05

Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana kicked off the verismo craze in Italian opera in 1890. Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci followed two years later. We talk about the ripple effects of the verismo movement in this wide-ranging episode, covering everything from Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese to Anton Chekhov, Konstantin Stanislavski, St…

1
Manrico and Azucena 55:25

2+ y ago55:25

55:25

Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” is one of the most popular operas of all time, and also one of the hardest to follow. What is going on with this crazy plot? There’s a lot under the surface, and it's all spelled out in this explainer by Marc Eliot Stein, who shows how a thrilling but nakedly horrible storyline became an entertainment fit for 19th century ope…

1
Beelzebub and Galileo 1:26:29

3y ago1:26:29

1:26:29

Season 3 kicks off with a visit from poet and professor Daniel Nester, librettist for "The Summer King" by Daniel Sonenberg and author of "God Save My Queen". We talk about slam poetry, karaoke and New York City's Bowery Poetry Club, and then attempt a deep dive into the operatic context of the classic rock song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, and wh…

1
Nabucco and Ishmaele 35:57

3+ y ago35:57

35:57

A discussion of Giuseppe Verdi's breakthrough opera "Nabucco" and its Biblical origin story of Nebuchadnezzar and the neo-Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem. We also talk about Boney M, the Melodians "By the Rivers of Babylon", the Broadway musical "Godspell", Herman Melville's "Moby Dick", and why some of us hate Verdi's "Aida" and "Rigoletto". Seas…

1
Mimi and Rodolfo 1:12:32

3+ y ago1:12:32

1:12:32

Vicki Zunitch joins Marc Eliot Stein for a fresh in-depth examination of Puccini's great opera "La Boheme". We talk about the existential choices the characters make, the original comic stories by Henri Murger, the lifestyle of starving artists in 19th Century Paris and today, morning music at the Gate of Hell, affordable healthcare, and what the m…

1
Don Quichotte and Dulcinee 56:05

4y ago56:05

56:05

Jules Massenet is best known for "Manon" and "Werther", and his "Don Quichotte" hasn't played at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for nearly a hundred years. Why not, and was it actually killed in 1926 by a single bad review? Marc Eliot Stein rediscovers this forgotten classic and finds a beautiful surprise. We also talk about "Man of …

1
Figaro and Cherubino 47:58

4y ago47:58

47:58

We continue our look at the two great Figaro operas with a deep dive into Mozart's dark sexual comedy "Le Nozze di Figaro". We talk about Soren Kierkegaard, "Either/Or", trouser roles, gender ambiguity, castratos, Peter Pan, Harpo Marx, Prince's "Purple Rain", Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, Rossini, Strauss, "Der Rosenkavalier", "La Mere Co…

1
A Mermaid and a Baguette 1:01:25

4+ y ago1:01:25

1:01:25

We zoom into today’s literary scene with composer and librettist Rachel J. Peters, who turns short stories from authors like Sheila Heti and Arthur Phillips into contemporary operas. Her work spans from absurdist postmodernism back to the American tradition of Carl Sandburg, and her influences include Nina Simone, Stephen Sondheim and Meredith Monk…

1
Figaro and Rosina 41:52

4+ y ago41:52

41:52

By Marc Eliot Stein

1
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth 45:19

4+ y ago45:19

45:19

By Marc Eliot Stein

1
Fidelio and Napoleon 41:01

5y ago41:01

41:01

Beethoven's politically charged "Fidelio" is an opera for today, with messages of resistance, defiance, #MeToo and prisoner awareness. It premiered during the Napoleonic Wars that brought revolutionary tumult all over Europe, and Ludwig van Beethoven was deeply involved in progressive revolutionary politics. We talk about the French Revolution, Tol…

1
Wotan and Brunhilde 1:24:45

5y ago1:24:45

1:24:45

Marc Eliot Stein and Bud Parr, two software developers and literary bloggers from New York City, sat through all 18.5 hours of Richard Wagner's "Ring des Nibuleng" cycle at the Metropolitan Opera this year, and lived to tell the tale. Actually, we were both very impressed. In our latest exploration of opera's often misunderstood literary side, we f…

1
Orpheus and Eurydice 1:05:47

5+ y ago1:05:47

1:05:47

Opera was born during the Renaissance as an attempt to recreate the experience of an ancient Greek play as it would have been performed in the Theater of Dionysus in Athens. In this episode, Marc Eliot Stein and Lisa Geraghty talk about the greatest of several operas about one particular Greek myth: "Orfeo ed Euridice" by Christoph Willibald Gluck,…

1
Fiordiligi and Nicola 54:01

5+ y ago54:01

54:01

By Marc Eliot Stein

1
Otello and Desdemona 37:59

5+ y ago37:59

37:59

An exciting new podcast by Marc Eliot Stein of Literary Kicks. Why is opera relevant in 2019? This sometimes-lost art form hides a fascinating, vibrant world. In our first episode, we discuss whether Verdi's Otello is better than Shakespeare's Othello, whether Othello had PTSD, and what it means that Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro is an Italian opera …

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Marc Eliot Stein Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Lost Music: Exploring Literary Opera

Marc Eliot Stein

1
A Chorus in Brooklyn 1:21:44

1
Talking to an Influential Fairy 1:29:10

1
Hoffmann and His Muse 42:16

1
Giovanni and Kierkegaard 1:13:35

1
Canio and Corleone 41:05

1
Manrico and Azucena 55:25

1
Beelzebub and Galileo 1:26:29

1
Nabucco and Ishmaele 35:57

1
Mimi and Rodolfo 1:12:32

1
Don Quichotte and Dulcinee 56:05

1
Figaro and Cherubino 47:58

1
A Mermaid and a Baguette 1:01:25

1
Figaro and Rosina 41:52

1
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth 45:19

1
Fidelio and Napoleon 41:01

1
Wotan and Brunhilde 1:24:45

1
Orpheus and Eurydice 1:05:47

1
Fiordiligi and Nicola 54:01

1
Otello and Desdemona 37:59

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