Opera Box Score

New OBS co-host Matt Cummings joins the show tonight! (Don't worry, Tobias Wright'll be back...) George re-introduces you to Matt... by humiliating him in our ‘Pop Quiz’ segment... In ‘Chalk Talk’: last week an article in The New York Times asked “The Met has the voices. Will it need more to survive?” Check out the things George and Matt think the Met needs to do to stay alive... Plus, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Haymarket Opera Company's fall production is Marin Marais's 1696 opera “Ariane et Bachus”. In 'Hometown Team', Haymarket's Artistic Director Craig Trompeter joins soprano Kimberly McCord live in studio to reveal why their company is the first one to perform this opera in the last 321 years... Then, In 'Chalk Talk', we take a closer look at the recent flourishing of Baroque music performance, including performances by Third Coast Baroque and the works of Monteverdi at the Harris Theater... Plus, Oliver plays 'Monday Evening Quarterback' and reviews the recent production of Gluck's “Orpheé et Eurydice” at Lyric Opera of Chicago... And, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in 'The Two Minute Drill'... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

The fall opera season is just around the corner, with San Francisco Opera, LA Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Washington National Opera getting things going this week. Our team reveals the shows they HAVE TO SEE this fall, as well as some shows that are just wishful thinking... Plus, Tobias tells you how NOT to fire someone... And you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with bass-baritone Douglas Williams. His physically dynamic performances have led him to collaborations with Mark Morris, Sasha Waltz, and Barbara Hannigan, among others. You’ll be surprised to find out what was the turning point in Douglas’s career... But first, the O17 Festival opens at Opera Philadelphia later this week. And it’s not just any old opera festival. George and Tobias tell you why... Plus you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Lidiya Yankovskaya, the newly appointed Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater. This exclusive half hour interview introduces you to a major player in the Chicago opera scene, as they talk about Yankovskaya's training, her opinions on bel canto opera, her initiative called the Refugee Orchestra Project, technology in opera, the COT young artist program, and she reveals some thoughts on future seasons for the company... Then in ‘The Hometown Team’, Oliver brings you another interview, this time with soprano Claire DiVizio, the Artistic Director of Thompson Street Opera, which kicks off their 2017-18 season this weekend with a comic book hero-themed opera called “Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris"... Plus you get all your opera headlines and George's hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... https://www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Oliver. She’s a current Steans Vocal Fellow at Ravinia who just sang a premiere with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas... But first, “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs”, an opera with music by Mason Bates and libretto by Mark Campbell, opened at the Santa Fe Opera Festival last month. Washington Post critic Anne Midgette took that as an opportunity to talk about the way opera is built, and to compare it to TV and other art forms. Oliver and George respond... And but of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... https://www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

It's a tearful reunion when Oliver and George swap stories about their summer escapes in Operaland, from the Midwest to the East Coast and beyond. Don't miss the highs and lows of our travels, from Oliver's Early Music Festival exploits to George's singing lessons... And but of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... https://www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

Do you know where Petoskey, Michigan, is? Well, you will soon. George goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Chris Ludwa, the Artistic Director of the Bay View Music Festival, the longest continuously operating chamber music festival in the United States, which is in northern Michigan. We talk about the unique place that is Bay View, why this festival’s Pay To Sing program is different from the others, and what the less glamorous parts are of running a summer music festival... Then, it’s ‘Chalk Talk’. Australian comedian Jim Jeffries was on the podcast from The Nerdist platform last week, talking about his career, including his schooldays training as a singer, and boy, did he have some choice words about opera. You’ll hear that clip, plus George's take on it... And but of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... https://www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

George goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with fight choreographer Nick Gisonde. They talk about the philosophy behind onstage fighting and teach you how to do a realistic hair pull. Plus don’t miss when Nick tells George what the nastiest combat move he’s ever seen on stage is... Then, it’s the return of our “Hometown Team” segment, when the OBS team focuses on opera stories right here in the Windy City. George take a closer look at the casts and artistic teams for the three shows at Chicago Opera Theater’s upcoming season. You’ll find out which one of those things is not like the other... And but of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... https://www.facebook.com/OBSCHI1/

George goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with mezzo-soprano Davia Bouley. She’s currently singing Carmen at the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan, but she’s based in Berlin. Davia and George talk about the easy parts of singing Carmen (hint: not a lot), plus they compare and contrast Berlin’s opera houses... Then creative consultant Oliver Camacho checks in from the Berlin of the East Coast. That would be New London, Connecticut, where he’s spent the last few weeks at the Amherst Early Music Festival. Don’t miss his audio postcard... And but of course you get all your opera headlines and the OBS team's hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore

You get another chance to hear Oliver’s interview with Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, a countertenor who was one of the winners of this year’s National Council Auditions at the Metropolitan Opera, plus George's interview with contemporary American composer William Bolcom... And, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Leave us a voicemail: 224.218.9BOX (9269) Tweet us: @operaboxscore

It’s summer, and that means re-runs. For our new listeners, you might have missed two great interviews from the OBS archives. Tonight, you’ll get another chance to hear Oliver’s interview with superstar tenor Matthew Polenzani and George's interview with Kirsten Harms, the former Intendantin of the Deutsche Oper Berlin... Then in our ‘Hometown Team’ segment, Tobias and Oliver chime in on the appointment of Lidiya Yankovskaya as the new Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater... And, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore

Tobias and George break down the 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition which wrapped up on Sunday. They introduce you to some of competitors and talk you through the winners, so there will be some spoilers... And then, Oliver files a field report from the Boston Early Music Festival. You’ll get his highs and lows on from this event which focuses on an era of music which he knows and loves... Plus, you get all your opera headlines and our hot take on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore

Guest co-host Matthan Black gets you ready for summer and becomes your personal trainer... for opera festivals. He talks about what productions are a must see... But first, George recaps the winners and losers of the 2017 International Opera Awards. Some of those results might surprise you... And of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’...

Oliver goes ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Swiss-born and -trained rising star soprano Regula Mühlemann to find out how to sing Mozart... And, of course you get all your opera headlines, and our hot takes on them, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’... But first, imagine if you were asked to make up a team of Opera All-Stars. Name the best singer – living or dead, active or retired – in each of the four main voice types, that you’d want to see onstage performing a role from the standard Italian repertoire. Who would be on your team? George and Daina ask Tobias for his roster in 'Chalk Talk'... @operaboxscore

Returning to the OBS are stage director Amy Stebbins and composer Hauke Berheide, so you know this episode's discussions are going to be intelligent, thoughtful and informed. Hey, sometimes change is good... First, we go ‘Inside the Huddle’ and talk about what shows Amy and Hauke have seen recently, as well as catching up on what sorts of projects they’re working on now... Then, it’s ‘Chalk Talk’: recently, there’ve been extensive debates about race, gender and ‘equal opportunity’ casting in standard repertoire operas. Tonight we go one step further and discuss casting decisions made by librettists and composers of new works, and how modern categories like ‘realism’ and ‘authenticity’ have put limits on how the distinctions between role, body, and voice are utilized... And of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in the ‘Two Minute Drill’... operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

Daniel Grambow is the Artistic Director of the Floating Opera Ensemble in Chicago, where he's currently directing the company’s upcoming production of “War and Peace”, a composite opera about the First World War. He joins us ‘Inside the Huddle’ to talk directing, and what it’s like to do opera in a cemetery... Then, George plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ and reviews the final Met in HD broadcast of this season, Robert Carsen's new production of Richard Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier”. He’ll tell you what the biggest moment of the night was. And it wasn’t Renée Fleming’s curtain call... And of course you get all your opera headlines and our team's hot takes on them in the ‘Two Minute Drill’... operaboxscore.com @operaboxscore

We update you on all the news from the orgiastic Bacchanal that is the Opera America conference which took place in Dallas this past weekend... But first, it's been a busy week at the Metropolitan Opera. The company's recent gala celebrated being at Lincoln Center for 50 years. But was the move worthwhile? Plus, an Instagram post of 'Today' show host Al Roker asleep in the audience at a recent Met performance of Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" is also doing the rounds... And of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in the ‘Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore

American composer William Bolcom joins George ‘Inside the Huddle’. They talk about Bolcom's career bridging the gap between popular and classical music, as well as his work with librettists Arnold Weinstein and Mark Campbell... But first, Oliver and Tobias respond to some Listener’s Letters, and they update you on some opera happenings right here in Chicago on ‘The Home Team’... And, of course, you get all your opera headlines and the OBS hot takes on them in the ‘Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore

It’s an evening of potluck on the OBS: Monday Evening Quarterback, a Listener's Letter, the Two Minute Drill, and the Home Team, all with George Cederquist, Oliver Camacho and Tobias Wright... @operaboxscore