Opera Box Score

[@ 5 min] Major League Baseball is back, sorta. The OBS Bloopers talk through the struggles baseball has faced, past and present, and what signs opera and classical music might steal from America’s pastime... [@ 30 min] American soprano Amanda Woodbury goes 'Inside the Huddle' to discuss singing Konstanze, balancing motherhood with an international career, and being a 9th inning replacement for a Met radio broadcast... [@ 60 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Lincoln Center stops paying above market interest rates. Your OBSers have no idea what that means, but'll give hot takes on it, anyway... www.operaboxscore.com www.facebook.com/obschi1 @operaboxscore IG operaboxscore

[@ 5 min] This week in 'Chalk Talk', the reckoning begins. A-list artists called on the Richard Tucker Foundation to remove one of its board members after he made a series of racist comments on social media. This, after a week full of articles and editorials addressing Classical Music’s race problem and middleclassartist.com’s data-driven spotlight on racial inequality in opera... [@ 19 min] Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with one of the most exciting and talented American baritones of his generation. That baritone would be Theo Hoffman… [@ 51 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’: if you had to pick between Basketball and Opera, what would you choose...? www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 3 min] Team OBS goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Joel Puckett, composer of Minnesota Opera’s production of “The Fix” (with a libretto by Eric Simonson) about the fraudulent 1919 Chicago White Sox team. A guest who can shoot the breeze about sports…?! [@ 37 min] Apparently there are still places that want to hire James Levine. In ‘Chalk Talk’, find out where in the world presenting an alleged sexual predator and cult-leader will still sell tickets... [@ 46 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, women take the reins of New Orleans Opera and Charlottesville Opera, while the Metropolitan Opera stops giving away free online content… www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

We keep the (American) Independence Day weekend party going - physically distanced, of course - with a trip into the archives. Join Matt, Weston and Ashlee (plus a little bit of Toby) for three Yankee Doodle OBS Hall-of-Famers… www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 5 min] Wonder why all classical composers seem to be dead white men? Wonder where all the women are? Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with a champion of gender equality in classical music: Elizabeth de Brito, the producer and host of England’s The Daffodil Perspective… [@ 32 min] We dip into the ‘Listener Mailbag’ to discover Oliver, Matt, and Ashlee’s Fantasy League picks for a dinner party… [@ 54 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, experience the mask-wearing, physically-distanced audience at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and take a trip to Greece with Ashley… www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 4 min] Stage director Alison Moritz joins George and Oliver ‘Inside the Huddle’ to talk about opera in the Era of Corona and of Uprising... [@ 27 min] A Full House of the OBS team open up the ‘Listener Mailbag’ and find an inquiry about their hopes and dreams for a new opera house... [@ 35 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Barcelona tests the theory of whether plants appreciate classical music... www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 5 min] It’s the man of the hour, the courageous and graceful rising star tenor who has thrown the gauntlet down in his call to action for opera companies to start engaging more black artists *now*. Creative consultant Oliver Camacho goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Frederick Ballentine... [@ 34 min] Coach Weston Williams and guest assistant coach Harry Rose wrap up ‘Spring Training for Your Ears’ with what Weston describes as the best finale in all of opera... [@ 1 h 15 min] In the Two Minute Drill, we hope Alexander Neef has a nice stockpile of N95 masks. That man is going to be doing a lot of flying... www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

If this is the first episode you're hearing, welcome to the OBS. For everyone else, this episode will sound a little different. We're still the same show. We're going to get to the second part of our 'Spring Training for Your Ears' on Strauss’s "Die Frau ohne Schatten". We're still going to have the 'Two Minute Drill'... But we want to start by acknowledging the cultural moment we're in, one that affects so many of our colleagues and friends, and point to some of the Black artists in our field who are speaking out...

[@ 3 min] The OBS-ers begin a three-part ‘Spring Training for Your Ears’ on Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” with special guest panelist Harry Rose... [@ 51 min] The team goes ‘Inside the Huddle' with Timothy Nelson, the artistic director of Washington, DC’s INSeries organization. Find out how they’re planning to create a digital opera house... [@ 1 h 14 min] In the 'Two Minute Drill', the Arena di Verona celebrates Domingo of all people... www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 6 min] Alright, tonight… it’s a double-header ‘Inside the Huddle’ all about the end of the “young artist” stage of a singer’s career and the transition to management. We talk to American soprano Emily Pogorelc who joins the ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper this fall. [@ 33 min] Then… it’s the founder of Stratagem Artists, Justin Werner. A former singer himself, Werner answers some of the most frequently asked questions about transitioning to a managed career, and when exactly IS a singer ready to have representation… [@ 1 hour 4 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill... in her infinite wisdom, Anna Netrebko tells her followers to “hashtag break quarantine”… www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 5 min] The OBS gents play a 'Chalk Talk' double header with one of the most recognizable voices in opera podcasting. Baritone Michael Mayes joins the panel to discuss the content that companies are sharing with audiences starved for opera and how they’ve pivoted to online strategies in the wake of COVID-19… [@ 57 min] In the Two Minute Drill... Does your shelter-in-place have enough Marian Anderson? Did a panel of renowned scientists speak too soon about choral concerts? www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 5 min] Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Russell Thomas, one of the most sought-after tenors of his generation who specializes in the hardest-to-cast roles like Pollione in Bellini’s ‘Norma’, Florestan in Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’ and the title role of Verdi's ‘Otello'… [@ 45 min] In ‘Chalk Talk’, the OBS gang wrap up the Opera Bracket Final Four from Michigan Opera Theater. Only a single team can have its one shining moment. Find out who… [@ 1h30min] And in the Two Minute Drill… Bad news from more of America’s summer opera festivals and worse news from the National Association of Teachers of Singing... www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@ 4 min] It’s our Mother’s Day Spectacular! Ashlee Hardgrave talks to seven artists and administrators who navigated partnership at parenting while at the top of their operatic game… [@ 53 min] George and Oliver play through their regions of Michigan Opera Theater’s Greatest Opera bracket. It’s Carmen versus Dalilah and Ann Trulove versus Cunegonde...! [@ 1 hour 42 min] In the Two Minute Drill... La Scala forges ahead with plans to re-open this September. Will that decision end up as one of our future Bad Calls…? www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

[@6min] If you feel like you’ve been spending a lot of time alone, try singing all the parts of a Bach Passion by yourself. Creative consultant Oliver Camacho has an exclusive interview with the co-creator and star of Bachfest Leipzig’s “St John Passion for solo tenor, harpsichord, organ, and percussion” Icelandic tenor Benedikt Kristjánsson... [@41min] There was plenty of March Madness a few months ago, and that was without any basketball. But while the NCAA Final Four was cancelled, Michigan Opera Theater posted its own opera bracket on Instagram in mid-April. The OBS team works through that very bracket over the next three shows, picking winners of the ultimate opera showdown... [@1h35min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, it’s opera. At the drive in. In London, of all places… We’re continuing to document all things opera-related in the time of corona, and we want to hear your voice. Are you an employee of the opera world, whose work has been affected by COVID-19? A fan who’s desperate to see something l

Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Nicholas Tamagna, the American countertenor who recently triumphed in his debut at the Metropolitan Opera. Tamagna describes going from cover cast to starring alongside Joyce DiDonato to (unrelated) quarantine in Germany… Matt and Ashlee conclude ‘Spring Training for Your Ears’ with Part III of their look at one of Benjamin Britten’s most accessible operas: “Albert Herring”... In the 'Two Minute Drill', has Anna Netrebko’s identity been stolen...? www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

A singer described by Opera News as a “true stage animal,” the OBS ballers go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with American bass-baritone Zachary James to talk about starring in Philip Glass’s ‘Akhnaten’, being a queer villain in Britten’s “Billy Budd”, and a break-through role in “The Addams Family” musical… ‘Spring Training for Your Ears’ continues with Part Two of the team's look at Britten’s comic masterpiece “Albert Herring”... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’… you knew it was coming… The Zoom Opera… www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

Lidiya Yankovskaya returns! The highly sought after conductor has already had a whirlwind season with world premieres at the Prototype Festival, Minnesota Opera, and with one of our hometown teams, Chicago Opera Theater. Find out how she juggles it all when she goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Oliver and Ashlee... It’s ‘Spring Training for Your Ears’. Over the next few weeks, tune up your familiarity with the comic masterpiece “Albert Herring”. With history hurdles and recording reps, get ready to become the point guard for Team Benjamin Britten... And then… in the Two Minute Drill… #MeToo tenor Vittorio Grigolo wants to... caress your ears? www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

Which soprano sang more than eighty different roles, spinning out long phrases in operas ranging from Salome to Norma? Find out when Matt makes his next pick for the OBS ‘Hall of Fame’... But first, Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with baritone John Taylor Ward, a darling of the contemporary and early music concert scenes and the co-founder of Minnesota’s Lakes Area Music Festival… In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, COVID-19 claims the life of playwright and librettist Terrence McNally… www.facebook.com/obschi1 www.operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

Zach Finkelstein of middleclassartist.com 'Crunches the Numbers' with George on the metrics of Force Majeure clauses in the many contracts that are being cancelled in the wake of COVID-19... But first, Weston inducts a composer into the OBS 'Hall of Fame' that's right on, er, The Nose... Oliver leads a 'Two Minute Drill' with a pair of bizarre stories about Plácido Domingo... facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

The OBS crew take social distancing a little too literally, as it’s just George live in-studio, with the rest of the team calling in with their personal stories as to how Coronavirus is affecting them - and others - as artists in opera... facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore