Opera Box Score

NYE wishes from OBS host George Cederquist with a preview of 2019's first show on January 7... @operaboxscore www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1

The guys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with conductor Anthony Barrese. The recipient of the 2007 Georg Solti Foundation U.S. award for young conductors, he's currently preparing for two shows at Opera Southwest... In ‘Chalk Talk’, a petition called “End Application and Audition Fees for Opera Singers” has gathered over 5300 signatures as of December 10. But will this petition have any effect?... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Grammy nominations and airport names abound... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

The OBS boys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, a winner of multiple singing competitions and a former ensemble member at the Semperoper in Dresden. She talks about how opera became the medium in which she found her voice... In ‘Chalk Talk’, conductor Sir Simon Rattle’s recent article for the BBC website outlines seven essential pieces of advice for young musicians. Find out how few of those our guys have followed over the years... Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, it's the beginning of the Yannick Nézet-Séguin era at the Met... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

The OBS boys are joined by conductor Cathy O'Shaughnessy as a guest co-host and go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with conductor Michael Christie. At Minnesota Opera, Christie led 24 productions over six seasons as its first-ever Music Director, including the world premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s opera “Silent Night”. Plus this guy flies planes... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Plácido Domingo celebrates a milestone... Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” at Lyric Opera of Chicago... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

A recent article by E.J. Roller on the Vox website argues that “if students want to pursue the arts, they may be accepted to an arts program without a scholarship and find themselves $200,000 in debt before realizing they aren’t going to be able to get a real paycheck with their arts degree — at least in the next decade.” The OBS boys talk about the financial problems and potential fixes of a life in opera… With Thanksgiving later this week, our guys give thanks for a menu of opera works and artists... In the 'Two Minute Drill', a big premiere at La Scala and a little problem in Palo Alto... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

The OBS boys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with soprano Ailyn Pérez, who was just named a 2019 ‘Opera News’ Awards Honoree… The guys play ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on last week’s productions of Wagner’s “Siegfried” at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” at Chicago Opera Theater and the Met in HD broadcast of Nico Muhly’s opera “Marnie”... David Daniels' reputation continues to crumble in the 'Two Minute Drill'... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

Weston Williams leads a look back at some of our favorite ‘Inside the Huddle’ segments, with interviews of three very different, but equally fascinating, opera artists… As Chicago Opera Theater prepares to open a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” this week, we revisit our time with COT Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya... Then, we rewind to last spring, when creative consultant Oliver Camacho and co-host Tobias Wright talked to baritone Anthony Clark Evans, and Oliver caught up with tenor Paul Appleby… www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

The boys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with stage director Paul Curran, who's currently directing Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” at Chicago Opera Theater. They start by asking Paul about his take on this Russian gem of an opera... Then, the annual Hallowe’en Spooktacular returns with those scary opera moments that keep you up at night on October 31st... Plus, it’s the ‘Two Minute Drill’, when the guys explain what the hell Tilda Swinton is doing mixing dogs and opera... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/ @operaboxscore

In a recent article in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper in London, Royal Opera House chief executive Alex Beard said the inclusion of the word “royal” in the name of his company is quote off-putting to the general public. So, what’s in a name? Just how much does the identity of an opera company rest on its title? That’s in ‘Chalk Talk’... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, you get a front row seat at last Sunday's Richard Tucker Award Gala... Then, creative consultant Oliver Camacho plays a ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ double header. He and Weston fill you in on recent performances of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” and Puccini’s “La bohème” at Lyric Opera of Chicago... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

The OBS boys go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with writer Heidi Waleson. She’s been the opera critic at the Wall Street Journal for twenty five years, and is the author of “Mad Scenes and Exit Arias: The Death of the New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America”, which has just been published by Macmillan... In ‘Chalk Talk’, all discuss the recent strike by the Chicago Federation of Musicians at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Who’s to blame? Who saved face?... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, find out what opera house just had a birthday... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Oliver and George go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Alexandra Bork, a gender non-conforming soprano who's just returned to the US after working in the storefront opera scene in the UK... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, racism in opera once again rears its ugly head... And in ‘Chalk Talk’, Oliver looks back at the life and lyricism of Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé who died last week... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan go 'Inside the Huddle' with OBS creative consultant Oliver Camacho to discuss their tour of “A Silent Night”, an homage to this year’s centenary of the beginning of World War One... But first, George and Weston 'Crunch the Numbers' on Opernwelt magazine's list of the best in opera from the 2017-2018 season... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, find out about this week's opera problems that are plaguing New York, Barcelona and Zurich... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Weston inducts another composer into the OBS Hall of Fame... In ‘Chalk Talk’, the OBS boys celebrate opening night of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2018 season by looking at future programming initiatives from Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin... George pays tribute to David DiChiera, Founding General Director of Michigan Opera Theater, who died last week at age 83... And in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, find out who just spent fifty million quid on opera in London... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on Orlando di Lasso’s “Lagrime di San Pietro” seen at Ravinia last week... the OperaWire website reports that soprano Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs was recently fired from Maryland Lyric Opera’s concert performances of Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” for standing up to abuse from the company’s music director. Our team tries to figure out what happened... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Kim Witman at Wolf Trap Opera Company has released her annual stats on what arias are sung first in auditions and WQXR writer Fred Plotkin has given out his biennial list of forty opera singers under forty that are worth looking out for. We’ll go through the lists... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Tenor and visual artist Luther Lewis goes ‘Inside The Huddle’ with the OBS team. Luther is part of “Illustrations”, a gallery exhibition and concert which celebrates the contributions of African-American singers to opera. You'll get Luther's insights on the genesis of this interdisciplinary project and hear what sorts of obstacles remain for black classical music artists... The infamous ‘Pop Quiz’ segment returns when Oliver drops the needle on important singers you should know... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, a mezzo sweeps the awards at the Operalia competition, Miss America sings opera and two opera birthdays are celebrated... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Despite promising to take Labor Day off, the OBS boys can't stay away from the mics... Enjoy a recap of the interview with John von Rhein, who recently retired as the Chicago Tribune’s classical music critic, when he joined the show live via phone ‘Inside the Huddle’ with his highlights and lowlights from over forty years of attending and writing about classical music performances in Chicago... Then catch the replay of the OBS team working through the 2018 World Cup bracket using each country's opera strengths to predict the winners... And, on Monday September 10th at 9 pm CT, it's the kickoff to the fourth season of the OBS! www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

The world’s most famous countertenor, David Daniels, and his husband, conductor Scott Walters, have been accused of drugging and violently raping another opera singer. In a ‘Chalk Talk’ double header, the team takes a look at the evidence for the accusation, recent developments in the story, as well as the ways in which other voices in the opera world have responded to these allegations... [WARNING: While profanity isn't used on our show, some listeners may find the details of the conversation to be graphic.] In the ‘Two Minute Drill, the OBS guys: guess how many roles Plácido Domingo has sung, argue why atonal music promotes drug abuse, and say farewell to soprano Inge Borkh... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

John von Rhein, who recently retired as the Chicago Tribune’s classical music critic, joins the show live via phone ‘Inside the Huddle’ with his highlights and lowlights from over forty years of attending and writing about classical music performances in Chicago... Then the OBS team takes off on another summer opera festival road trip. This time they head overseas to the Granddaddy of Them All, the Bayreuth Festival in Germany... Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’, tribute is paid to Aretha Franklin's opera voice, and the best way to punish your neighbors with opera is revealed... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Oliver Camacho returns from a father and son-in-law concert at the Ravinia Festival for a double-header ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ review... Matt Cummings offers up a family feud style ‘Pop Quiz’ with disastrous results... In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, Anne Midgette follows up on her sexual harassment expose with a classical music primer, "Bel Canto" rears its head again, and Kathleen Battle turns 70... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

An annual report by arts consultant Drew McManus shows that the average compensation for the music directors of sixty four American ensembles has topped $600k for the first time ever. The OBS boys ‘Crunch the Numbers’ to figure out why conductors’ salaries are on the rise... A handful of OBS alums, including Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Justin Kim, and Madison Leonard sang high profile performances last week. The guys play ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ and review their work... In the 'Two Minute Drill', it's revealed that Orff's "Carmina Burana" actually does have bad words in it... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/