Met Opera Guild Podcast

Filled with familiar figures from ancient Rome, Handel creates a comedic and lighthearted score to accompany a story with some pretty sinister sub-themes. Sir David McVicar’s production of Agrippina brings this balance of darkness and light to audiences at the Met for the very first time! On this episode of the Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer, composer, and conductor, Victoria Bond takes a closer look at this baroque masterpiece.

French grand opera was lavish and spectacular – and in many ways, the antithesis Wagner’s operatic ideals. Yet Wagner is often mentioned as a major influence in the work of French Grand Opera master, Jules Massenet. What is the common ground to be found between these two compositional giants? In this episode of the Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer and musicologist Matthew Timmermans guides us through the Wagnerian influences in Massenet’s masterworks.

This episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast begins with an exploration of Wagner's DER FLIEGENDE HÖLLANDER and examines how later German composers responded to Wagner’s new perspective on operatic performance. In the first of a four-part series, musicologist and lecturer Matthew Timmermans guides us through the transformative influence of Wagner’s musical ideas.

Despite its initial flop in 1935, PORGY AND BESS has gone on to become one of the most enduring and popular operas of the 20th century. In fact, it was the first opera by an American-born composer to be performed at the famous La Scala opera house in Milan. On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have New York University professor, director of archives, and the author of "The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess: Race, Culture, and America’s Most Famous Opera," Ellen Noonan, lecturing on this quintessential American opera.

A champion of expressionism and atonality, Alban Berg wrote his first opera, WOZZECK, as a response to the chaos and tragedy he experienced during the First World War. It is generally considered to be his greatest score, and brought Berg international recognition and success. On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have lecturer and Vice President of Community Initiatives for Opera Philadelphia, Michael Bolton, talking about Berg’s groundbreaking work.

La Fenice in Venice, Italy is one of the first stops on The Metropolitan Opera Guild's upcoming “Treasures of the Mediterranean Cruise,” from September 30th to October 9th, 2020. During the cruise, Guild lecturer and podcast co-host Dr. Naomi Barrettara will be presenting a series of lectures accompanying onboard concerts and land excursions, as travellers visit Italy, Croatia, and Greece. This episode features Naomi giving you a sneak peak of what you can expect in the upcoming Metropolitan Opera Guild travel program! https://www.metguild.org/travel/

The opera stage and the Broadway stage share many conventions, such as lavish scenery, exquisite costuming, and awe-inspiring voices. For Schönberg and Boublil’s MISS SAIGON, Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY serves as the source material, while Anaïs Mitchell’s HADESTOWN and Gluck’s ORFEO ED EURIDICE are both unique interpretations of the Orpheus myth. With so many intersecting elements, what are the precise characteristics that make these dramatic forms distinct? On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, co-host Stuart Holt takes a closer look at the similarities and differences between opera and musical theater.

A mysterious hand of cards, an unhappy betrothal, and a tormenting ghost all come together in Tchaikovsky’s riveting drama THE QUEEN OF SPADES. Based on a Pushkin story, this elegant fable is a tantalizing tale of love and obsession. In this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer John J.H. Muller explores how the composer uses 18th-century pastiche and highly original melodic and motivic elements to evoke the world of this haunting opera.

For the first time in Met Opera History, Philip Glass’s AKHNATEN is coming to the stage! This much anticipated Met premiere is a deep meditation on the driving force of religion, and a powerful reminder of the fine line between revolution and destruction. Performances star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role, J’Nai Bridges making her Met debut as his wife, Nefertiti, and conductor Karen Kamensek making her Met debut at the podium. In this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer W. Anthony Sheppard discusses the story of the pharaoh who transformed ancient Egypt.

The ancient Greek “Orpheus myth” has inspired a vast array of artistic works, and composer Christoph Willibald Gluck is known for contributing their own operatic interpretation to the canon. Gluck’s adaptation explores the profound nature of grief, the power of love, and the rousing spirit of redemption in our two young lovers, portrayed on the Metropolitan Opera stage by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and soprano Hei-Kyung Hong. In this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer and music librarian Tanisha Mitchell guides us through Gluck’s elegant masterpiece

The Met Live in HD broadcast of Massenet's MANON is just around the corner! Based on Abbe Prevost's 18th-century novel, the story of Manon has inspired a variety of composers, from Auber to Puccini, to Hans Werner Henze! But none reached the emotional lyricism of Jules Massenet's operatic setting. In this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer and podcast co-host Naomi Barrettara takes a closer look at this French masterpiece.

Finished after the composer's death by Franco Alfano, Puccini’s TURANDOT is a beloved work in the opera canon, with a dramatic, imaginative, and sometimes violent score. This season at the Met, the magnificent dramatic sopranos Christine Goerke and Nina Stemme share the role of the ice princess in Franco Zeffirelli's opulent production. On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have a lecture from the archives of the Guild's critically-acclaimed series "Talking About Opera," with playwright and opera commentator Albert Innaurato taking a closer look at Puccini's final work.

Coming back to the Metropolitan Opera stage for the first time in nearly 30 years, the 2019-20 season opens with the Gershwin’s PORGY AND BESS. With stars Eric Owens and Angel Blue singing the title toles, as well as a star-studded ensemble, this new production by James Robinson is sure to transport audiences to the world of Catfish Row. On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, Opera News Editor-in-Chief F. Paul Driscoll and author, lecturer, and Met radio commentator William Berger guide us through what to expect from this season’s much-anticipated opening night at the Metropolitan Opera!

On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, lecturers Naomi Barrettara and Elspeth Davis are joined by composers Christopher Cerrone and Laura Kaminsky, as well as producer, director, and dramaturg Lawrence Edelson in an interview from this past season’s “Opera in the New Millennium” event.

Called “the greatest tenor in the world” by his colleague and friend Robert Merrill, legendary performer Richard Tucker sang 724 performances spanning more than 30 leading roles at the Met! On this episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have Part 2 of our "Celebrating Richard Tucker" mini-series, drawn from a live event this past season. One of Tucker's sons, Dr. David Tucker, and biographer James A. Drake give listeners an inside look at the life and career of this great artist.