Opera Box Score

The OBS layabouts leave work early for Memorial Day, but not before giving you a micro-episode examining Santa Fe’s new opera initiative. They look at three world premieres and find out why it pays to have multiple new works in the same season... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The OBS goobers get an early start on their Summer Festival Road Trip: first stop is a nerdapalooza for all you early music fans... Weston is anything but modest as he inducts another composer into the illustrious OBS Hall of Fame... Plus, it's a particularly wacky ‘Two Minute Drill’… operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

With the 2018-2019 season winding down, but the summer festivals are yet to begin, things are a little quiet in Operaland. But don’t worry, the OBS guys are here to get loud, with a show featuring a plethora of sounds clips... The guys ‘Crunch the Numbers’ and recap the results from the 2019 International Opera Awards which took place last week in London... It’s a brand new segment called ‘Spring Training For Your Ears’: they'll get you ready for how to listen to any recitativo secco that might be coming your way during the summer season... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel takes one for the team... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The OBS schmucks celebrate their appearance at last week's TRIVIAta event with a triple-header showcasing some of their best segments from the past season... Matt is hazed with trivia questions in 'Pop Quiz'... Oliver goes 'Inside the Huddle' with countertenor Jakub Józef Orlinski... Tobias walks you down the hallowed corridors of the OBS 'Hall of Fame' with a look at the life and recordings of one of his favorite opera singers… operaboxscore.com facebook.com/OBSCHI1

The OBS over-achievers try to figure out how to sell opera to audiences in the twenty-first century... But first, they tackle the issue of racial inequality and the underrepresentation of minorities in the opera world... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, there's big stories from London... Plus, OBS hosts Lyric Opera of Chicago's Young Professionals Annual TRIVIAta event, a pub trivia-style competition about opera, on Wednesday April 24 at 5.30 pm. Clues to some of the game's questions are hidden throughout this episode! Check out the link below for tickets... https://www.facebook.com/events/271183080470981/ operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

George has a good call on two upcoming opera events, and a bad call from the Monday April 15 episode of OBS...

The OBS clowns go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with composer Huang Ruo, who wrote “An American Soldier”, seen at Opera Theater of St. Louis last year. You’ll hear about his life in both his native China and the US, and find out what his upcoming opera is... In 'Chalk Talk', the nightmare that is Brexit continues to take its toll on everyone and everything, and that includes opera... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, it's an opera architecture double header... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The OBS fools go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with tenor Zach Finkelstein about what the business side of being an opera singer is really like. Is it a bad April Fool’s Day joke to think you can be a full time musician...? The results are in from last Sunday’s Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Find out what the guys think about winners... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, the worlds of opera, fashion and Brexit collide... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

Opera America has released its list of the 25 most performed operas in the US during the 2017-2018 season. The OBS jerks take a deep dive into the rankings to see if there are any surprises... The Bavarian State Opera's recently-announced 2019-2020 season becomes the first international house to go under the microscope that is the Dodson Scale™. Find out where the company ranks alongside its Yankee counterparts... Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, get advice on playing Mozart to your manchego... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with countertenor Iestyn Davies, who just finished a run of Handel’s “Ariodante” at Lyric Opera of Chicago, having recently been on Broadway in the play “Farinelli and the King”... But first, the OBS clowns take a look at Chicago Opera Theater’s 2019-2020 season announcement. Will the company beat its record-breaking Dodson Scale™ score from last season...? In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, conductors are repping it all over the biz... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The OBS idiots ask "Huh? Are supertitles distracting?" In ‘Chalk Talk’, they figure out how opera companies can let the audience know what’s happening onstage... It’s a Parisian edition of 'Crunching the Numbers', running the Paris Opera’s 2019-2020 season through the famously infallible Dodson Scale™... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, find out who's now on strike in Chicago... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The OBS goofballs reach into their ‘Listener Mailbag’ and pull out Doug Dodson! That’s right, you'll hear the creator of the Dodson Scale™ himself talk about the importance of diversity in opera, and why he thinks Wagner doesn’t count... In 'Chalk Talk', it's all about acting. How can you change your theatrical presence onstage to mirror the music? Kathleen Turner has some opinions, as do the guys... Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, robots take over Operaland... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

It’s a ‘Chalk Talk’ double header, as George, Oliver and Tobias take a look at the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019-2020 season and run it through the Dodson Scale™. Find out if the Met can set a new high score... Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, there's harsh words in Berlin, and last words as three opera greats exit Stage Right... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The guys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with countertenor Jordan Rutter, who’s currently performing in Chicago Opera Theater’s new production of “The Scarlet Ibis”. What's it feel like for a singer from Florida to perform in the middle of a brutal Chicago winter...? Matt has a brand new member to induct into the hallowed corridors of the OBS 'Hall of Fame' in honor of Black History Month. Find out who needs to start working that acceptance speech... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, take a peek at some of the rejected plans for the Sydney Opera House... operaboxscore.com/thisweeksshow @operaboxscore

The boys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with soprano Christina Pecce to talk about her new one-woman show “Witches, Bitches, and Divas!”... In ‘Chalk Talk’, the team wonders if opera needs to hang onto the traditional system of gendered vocal classification in the twenty-first century... And in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, you'll hear about Grammy winners and conductor losers... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with bass Adrian Sâmpetrean, talking about what it takes to be a Romanian singer performing around the world, and what happens when you try to sing outside your comfort zone... But first, in ‘Chalk Talk’, recent articles arguing about English National Opera’s practice of translating their productions into English makes the OBS guys weigh in on that age-old argument in the opera world: "To translate, or not to translate...?" In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, find out why it's not a great idea to host a gamers convention in your opera house... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

The OBS crew go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Alexandra Enyart. An orchestra and opera conductor, Alex serves as Music Director for Thompson Street Opera Company where she chartered “Faulty Systems”, an annual program in which activists and artists come together to present on underrepresented communities or ideas through music, speech, poetry, dance and other mediums... But first, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago have announced their 2019-2020 seasons. The team reads between the lines about what’s to look forward to and what might be missing from each company’s list... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, hear about the new diversity initiative at English National Opera... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

The guys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with soprano Elena Villalón who placed first in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions Central region last weekend... Last Friday Chicago Opera Theater announced that General Director Douglas R. Clayton was stepping down from his leadership position with the company. In ‘Hometown Team’, the boys throw around some ideas on what’s behind this move... Then, they ‘Crunch the Numbers’: recent stats from the British Phonographic Institute reveal a rise in streams of classical tracks that is outpacing the rest of the sector... and in the ‘Two Minute Drill', you'll find out what was stolen from an opera house last week... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

George goes 'Inside the Huddle’ with Australian director Greg Eldridge. Greg was the youngest director ever to join the Young Artist programme at the Royal Opera House, London, where he recently directed Verdi’s “La Traviata”... Tobias opens up the Listener Mailbag and gets a letter all to himself... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, the Disabled List is overflowing... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

In a ‘Chalk Talk’ double header, George, Oliver and Weston look back at the opera highlights of 2018, from live performances and seminal recordings to major news stories and just plain ol' clickbait. And they share what they're looking forward to in opera this coming year… In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, there's deception, drag queens and Dungeons & Dragons... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore