Opera Box Score

This week we go “Inside the Huddle” with soprano Erica Schuller, an early music specialist. Find out about her specialized training in foot and hand positions and how it led her to become a star of Chicago's Haymarket Opera... But first we take a look at a recent burst of opera activity in the Middle East. They’re building new opera houses in the Dubai and in Turkey. What’s the rationale behind this geographic expansion of the art form...? Plus, it’s our first listener-generated Pop Quiz, and we've got all your opera headlines in 'The Two Minute Drill'...

Summer is finally here, and that means it’s time to get some sunscreen, a cold PBR, and some chips and salsa, and head to the nearest summer opera festival... Right? On tonight’s show, we preview the best of America’s -- and the world’s -- summer festivals. We give you the locations, the repertoire, the rosters, and everything else you need to know, from Aix to Wolf Trap... Plus, George writes the questions for an all-new 'Pop Quiz' format, Oliver leads 'Monday Evening Quarterback', and Tobias and Giovanna share their hot takes on all your opera headlines in 'The Two Minute Drill'...

We go 'Inside the Huddle' with baritone Matthan Black. In addition to being a great singer, he’s also got his own arts podcast called 'Doing the Work'. And he’s our guest co-host for this episode, so you’re gonna get his hot takes on all of our content... In our 'Chalk Talk' segment, we give you our $0.02 on the big news this week that Yannick Nézet-Séguin is to take over from James Levine as the new Music Director at the Metropolitan Opera. And we tell you about the best and worst conductors we’ve worked with... Plus, Oliver Camacho puts Matthan and Tobias to the test in our Pop Quiz, asking them to identify conductors, just by listening to an audio recording of their work...

We run down the winners and losers of the 2016 International Opera Awards. Who stole the show, and who got robbed? You can see the full list of nominees on our website: operaboxscore.squarespace.com... Plus, we've got all your opera headlines, Tobias leads the charge in 'Monday Evening Quarterback' and Oliver hosts a dance version of 'Pop Quiz'. Will Tobias and Giovanna be able to name specific dance styles, and the operas they come from, just by listening...?

In our 'Chalk Talk' segment, we take a good, long, hard look at nudity in opera. Should singers be expected to take it all off? Hear what the Opera Box Score team would do... Then, we go 'Inside the Huddle' with mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen. She’s a second-year member of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Co-host Oliver Camacho talked with her about covering a big role at the last minute and what's in her audition package... Plus, we’ve got all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’, and it’s our first ever showdown between basses in our ‘TKO’ segment. Don’t miss this brutal contest of two heavy-hitting guys...

This show is the second part of a double header. Last week, on Show No. 23, we were joined by the world-famous tenor Matthew Polenzani. If you haven't heard that podcast yet, be sure to go back an episode to catch everything Matthew had to say... On this show, we follow up on a recent article in which an undergraduate singer asked composer Mark Adamo about how "alive" opera was today. We take that conversation and invert it: in what ways are undergraduate students alive for opera? How does undergraduate voice training prepare singers for careers in opera, if at all...? Plus we've all your opera headlines, and Oliver challenges Tobias and Giovanna, as well as our listeners, in a gender bending 'Pop Quiz'. Guess the gender of five vocally androgynous singers who specialize in the repertoire of the 18th century castrato. Listen carefully, 'cause you don’t get to see which bathroom they go into...

We go 'Inside the Huddle' with one of the most distinguished tenors of our generation. Matthew Polenzani gives us twenty minutes of his time. And what a time it was... In 'Chalk Talk' we respond to an article written by contemporary American composer Mark Adamo, in which he makes the argument that new works in small performances venues are the driving force behind opera in America. Some might beg to differ, sir... Plus, we've got all your opera headlines, and in 'TKO', a Contessa cagematch: which of two singers will deliver the knock out punch in one of the toughest arias from the entire soprano repertoire?

On tonight’s show, we tackle the nastiest four-letter word in Operaland: “diva”. We break down what the word really means, examine what defines the stereotypical diva, and ask if such types really exist in opera today. Then, George brings you this week's need-to-know opera headlines, while Oliver rocks you with our Pop Quiz. Since the Metropolitan Opera is about to broadcast Richard Strauss’s “Elektra” live in HD, we’re jumping on the bandwagon. Just by listening, can you identify which operas are by Strauss and which ones aren't? Join us for America's talk radio show about opera!

We go Inside the Huddle with British composer Iain Bell. In addition to his symphonic and chamber works, as well as song cycles, he’s had great success in Europe and America with his two operas: 'A Harlot’s Progress' and 'A Christmas Carol'. His latest opera, 'In Parenthesis', opens at the Royal Opera House this summer. You’ll get an inside look at his process, plus his take on the future of opera in the UK... George, Tobias and Giovanna also talk about conductor James Levine’s retirement from the Metropolitan Opera. Some are calling it the end of an era. Others are saying he overstayed his welcome. And still more wonder to what degree the Met bosses forced him out... We’ve also got this week’s opera headlines, and in our Monday Evening Quarterback segment, co-host Oliver Camacho reviews last weekend’s Met in HD broadcast of 'Roberto Devereux'. Did Sondra Radvanovsky pull off the Donizetti Tudor queen triple-play...?

Co-host Tobias Wright is back from Florida where he’s been goofing around as part of the Sarasota Opera Young Artist Program. He tries to convince George that he’s actually furthered his career by doing that program. Plus we've got all your opera headlines, Tobias takes our opera Pop Quiz on Giuseppe Verdi, Oliver interviews bass Deandre Simmons, and we tackle an article in the Wall Street Journal that suggests opera companies are finding smaller venues to perform in. But can that success ever transfer to the big opera houses?

It's a bonus episode in our series introducing you to opera in Germany! George's guest is Kirsten Harms, the former Intendantin of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She’s now a freelance stage director in Germany. You’ll get her take on Berlin’s opera scene and an inside look at her tenure at the Deutsche Oper, as well as her opinion on opera in America... Later, George is joined by Roy Rallo, an American director based in San Francisco, who also is connected to the opera scene in Berlin. His candid opinions about the business of opera will surprise you... Then, George tells you why six weeks isn’t enough time to rehearse an opera, while in his field report from Chicago, Oliver tells you why you better have your poop together if you're going to sing in Marilyn Horne's masterclass, plus Monday Evening Quarterback reviews productions of 'Parsifal' and 'Salome'...

It’s the third and final installment of our three-part series introducing you to the opera world of Germany. Last week, George took you around Germany’s smaller houses. Today he started in Heidelberg and ended up in Munich... George's first guest is Lydia Steier, an American director based in Germany. She's currently directing Wagner's 'Der Fliegende Holländer'. You’ll hear her take on why she came to Germany to work, and whether or not she wants to go home to the US... Later on, George is joined by Amy Stebbins, an American director currently working on a new project at the Bavarian State Opera. She’s got a great take on the future of opera in Germany... We’ve also got this week’s opera headlines, our Monday Evening Quarterback segment, and Oliver checks in from Chicago with a field report...

George kicks off the second of a three-part series introducing you to the opera world in Germany. He goes to Meiningen, Weimar, Frankfurt and Darmstadt... His guest is Stefan Umhey, a multi-talented artist based at the Meiningen Theater. Stefan has lots to say about the challenges facing opera in Germany today. And he’s got a story about the intersection between opera and the recent arrival of Syrian refugees in Meiningen that you simply can't want to miss... Plus George shares with you the Top Five list of things you must have onstage if you’re directing an opera in Germany. We’ve also got this week’s opera headlines, our Monday Evening Quarterback segment, and Oliver checks in from Chicago with a field report...

George launches his three-part series introducing you to the opera world of Germany. He'll take you around Berlin, he’ll take you to the provinces, and he’ll give you insights into the wild and wacky world – mostly – that is opera here in Das Vaterland... George's guest this week is Will Robertson, a resident assistant director at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Will is one of a handful of American directors who's really found success working overseas in Germany. This interview gives you an all-access pass to the Deutsche Oper... But first, George lets you know why he came to Germany in the first place. And why he had to come back... Plus we’ve got this week’s opera headlines, our Monday Evening Quarterback segment and a special field report from Oliver back in Chicago.

This week, Oliver talks to Catherine O’Shaughnessy, founder of Windy City Opera, to give you an inside look at Chicago's storefront opera scene... But first, we investigate a story hot off the presses. The Floating Opera Company, a small outfit in Chicago, recently posted an audition notice for its upcoming production of Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’, and invited musical theater singers to audition. Many of them took umbrage at the $15 audition fee, and then took to social media to voice their displeasure. It got ugly, and fast... Plus we’ve got this week’s opera headlines and our TKO segment which pits Nathan Gunn and Simon Keenlyside head-to-head in Britten's 'Billy Budd'...

On tonight’s show, George, Oliver and Giovanna talk you the through ten contemporary composers who have just been added to the “most-performed” list in The Opera Guide, the world’s definitive list of who’s who in opera. But will we agree on who should be on the list and how they should be ranked...? Plus we have all your opera headlines, Oliver’s performance review potpourri and Giovanna's all-new lighting-round format for our opera Pop Quiz...

This week, George and Oliver talk with conductor Anthony Barrese. He’s also the artistic director of Opera Southwest. We get his take on what pieces opera companies should be programming in order to survive. Anthony’s a smart guy and the opera references come fast and furious in this interview, so keep your wits about you and enjoy this bonus-length interview... Co-host Giovanna is back on the show, and she helps us break down what to look forward to -- and what to avoid -- in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season... Plus we’ve got this week’s opera headlines and our TKO segment which pits two singers head-to-head in the finale of Rossini’s opera 'Zelmira'. Don't miss who we’ve chosen to fight to the death to become the star of Naples...

On tonight’s show, George takes you through the crisis brewing at English National Opera (ENO), London’s major opera house dedicated to performing opera in English. The Artistic Director has quit, the budget has been cut and the chorus is protesting. Is this the end of the road for ENO? Also, Oliver rants about performance etiquette: audiences are clapping less, singers are bowing more. What's up with that? And we've got all your opera headlines, and plus our Monday Evening Quarterback tackles the current production of Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier” at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

This week, it's a special hour-plus show! We talk with soprano Emily Birsan, who is currently in Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" at Chicago Opera Theater. Our team reviews the show, as well as its prelude in the double-bill: Poulenc's "La Voix Humaine", featuring Patricia Racette. Oliver sets up a new battle royale in our TKO segment, and George gives you the week's opera headlines. Wow!

Opera and musical theater librettist Matt Boresi is our guest co-host this week. We get his hot takes on how to write libretti, on the best new American librettists and on whether producing musical theater is helping or hurting opera companies. Plus, the Two Minute Drill, giving you all your need-to-know opera headlines!