Opera For Everyone

Ep. 25 Otello By Verdi With Lester Lynch

On this episode of Opera for Everyone we listen to the Opera Otello by Guiseppe Verdi, and also continue our conversation with dramatic baritone Lester Lynch, who plays Iago in this production. Otello is an opera in four acts to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito. The opera is based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan in 1887. It follows the story of Otello, a moor commanding a military unit in Cyprus, his wife Desdemona, and several of his officers. Iago, an ensign, is jealous of his colleague Cassio who has been promoted to captain by Otello. Iago plots to make Otello suspicious that his wife is in love with Cassio and has been unfaithful. In the end, Otello kills Desdemona and then himself. Iago is unrepentant.

Ep. 24 On My Journey Now / Otello with Lester Lynch

On this episode of Opera for Everyone, we welcome special guest Lester Lynch, who is a baritone opera singer performing with some of the world's leading operas. He discusses his album "On My Journey Now" a collection of spirituals and hymns, as well as his experience as an African-American vocalist and musician. This episode is in honor of the life, work and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Ep. 20 Mozart & Salieri by Rimsky-Korsakov broadcast 12.17.17

Mozart & Salieri is an opera in one act by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov set to a Russian libretto taken almost verbatim from a novella of the same name by Alexandr Pushkin. It's based on the oft-disputed legend that Salieri poisoned Mozart out of jealousy for his genius. The novel occurs in a single afternoon and evening with Mozart dropping by Salieri's apartment in Vienna to play his nearly-completed "Requiem." The two go together to an inn for dinner where Salieri poisons Mozart.

Ep. 23 Manon by Massenet broadcast 1.7.18

On today's episode we listen to Manon by Jules Massenet, an opera in five acts set to a French Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille. The story is based on the 1731 novel "L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" by the Abbé Prévost. The story begins in 1721 with a party of friends including Guillot Morfontain making merry at an Inn. Manon, escorted by her cousin Lescaut, of the Guards, arrives on her way to a convent. She is of the peasantry, but vain as well as beautiful. Guillot leaves his friends, to pay attention to the young girl. He meets with no success, and is finally compelled to retreat. The Chevalier Des Grieux, however, who appears upon the scene during the temporary absence of the cousin Lescaut, is more successful. Although about to take holy orders and become a priest, Des Grieux is charmed and infatuated by Manon's beauty and seeming simplicity; while she, in her vanity, seeks for a higher social position, and is also fascinated by the young Chevalier's manliness. The result is an almost immediate elopement of the pair. Act 2 begins in the couples cozy apartment in Paris. Before Des Grieux can secure his father's consent to their marriage the young man is placed in jeopardy by Lescaut and De Brétigny. The two men are soon pacified; shortly afterwards Des Grieux is seized by six men in the Count's (his father's) employ, and all taken away from Manon. In Act 3 we find Manon under protection of De Brétigny. But she learns that Des Grieux (whom she really loves) is now the priest at St. Sulpice; and she flies from Brétigny to win back her lover. In the second scene there is an interesting and dramatic situation, wherein Manon succeeds in inducing Des Grieux to renounce the priesthood and renew his love with Manon. In the 4th act is seen the interior of the gambling-house in Paris. Des Grieux is unjustly accused of cheating, and he and Manon are about to be arrested where Count Des Grieux appears and release the Chevalier; but Manon, through the effort of Guillot who seeks revenge, is condemned to jail and eventual deportation to the French colony Louisana. In the last scene, as Manon is being marched away to the ship that will take her to Louisiana, Manon again meets her lover Des Grieux, and dies in his arms.

Ep. 19 The Magic Flute by Mozart broadcast 12.10.17

On today's episode of Opera for Everyone we listen to The Magic Flute, also known as Die Zauberflöte, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It's an opera in two acts, first performed in Vienna in 1791. In this opera the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity in the Temple of Wisdom under the high priest Sarastro. Tamino is accompanied on his quest to the Temple of Wisdom by the earthy Papageno, a bird-catcher, who is also looking for true love. Together they learn the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seek to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, and with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. Papageno fails the trials completely but is nevertheless rewarded with the hand of his ideal female companion, Papagena. Image courtesy of Texas A&M University- Commerce Marketing Communications Photography

Ep. 18 LesDanaides by Salieri broadcast 12.3.17

If you’ve never experienced an opera by Antonio Salieri, now is your chance. You may have seen the movie Amadeus, or heard that Salieri was the Austrian court composer whose jealousy was whispered to have played a part in Mozart’s early death. And though that rumor is probably a fiction, who could blame him for being jealous of the wunderkind Mozart? A highly accomplished composer in his own right, Salieri was mentored by Gluck, and in turn taught such pupils as Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Enjoy this tragic opera with us, based on the Greek mythological characters Danaus and Hypermnestra.

Ep. 16 I Puritani by Bellini broadcast 11.19.17

Ep. 16 I Puritani by Bellini broadcast 11.19.17 by Opera for Everyone

Ep. 17 Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart broadcast 11.26.17

Mozart’s comic yet profound look at human nature and one crazy day in a wealthy Spanish household. The Marriage of Figaro, is an opera buffa (comic opera) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The opera's libretto is based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"), which was first performed in 1784. It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity. The opera is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas.

Ep. 15 Norma by Bellini broadcast 11.12.17

In this episode of Opera for Everyone we listen to Norma, an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after 'Norma, ou L'infanticide' by Alexandre Soumet. It was first produced at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831. The action takes place in ancient Gaul, under Roman occupation, where the Druid priestess Norma has fallen in love with a Roman official named Pollione and has secretly borne him two children. Norma is also the daughter of the Druids' leader, Oroveso. Norma's young acolyte Adalgisa asks to be released from her vows as - unbeknownst to anyone - she's fallen in love with Pollione. Norma agrees to release Adalgisa from her vows, but when Pollione arrives, the truth comes out. Norma realizes that he has betrayed her with Adalgisa, and Adalgisa learns that Pollione had pledged himself to Norma. Norma tells Adalgisa to take the children and go live with Pollione in Rome, but Adalgisa refuses vowing to convince Pollione to return to Norma. Adalgisa is unsuccessful, and as the Druids are assembled in the temple, an intruder is captured and is revealed to be Pollione. The punishment for any outsider entering the temple is instant death, and Norma is prepared to kill him with the sacred dagger. Suddenly, Norma calls for her people, announcing that Pollione won't be killed after all. Instead, there's a new victim, one who has betrayed her country. "I am the guilty one," she says and then calls for the sacrificial pyre to be prepared. In her final words to her father, Norma admits that she is the mother of Pollione's children and asks the shocked Oroveso to protect them. Meanwhile, Norma's bravery revives Pollione's love for her. He steps to her side, and the opera closes as the two walk into the flames together.

Ep. 14 Les Pêcheurs de Perles by Bizet Broadcast 11.5.17

This episode of Opera for Everyone features Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles - The Pearl Fishers - which debuted in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique, on September 30, 1863. It's an opera in three acts with a French libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. The opera is a story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The friendship duet "Au fond du temple saint", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet," is one of the best-known numbers in Western opera.