Opera Box Score

[@ 3 min] Alright, this week…it’s an Inside the Huddle double header! First, we'll speak with tenor Josh Lovell, who will be playing Jupiter in Atlanta Opera’s production of Semele. [@ 27 min] We’ll also talk to Castle of our Skins cofounder Ashleigh Gordon, who’s bringing Frederick Douglass to life with the help of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project! [@ 47 min] Plus, in the Two-Minute Drill, WT actual F is going on at the Kennedy Center, and WT literal F is going on with male leaders in classical music? Plus, Chicago Symphony Chorus gets a new director, Opera in the Ozarks gets new digs, and a Good Call for being mic'd Up. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@1 min] Alright, this week…Our regular recording day is Monday. Since that’s Memorial Day, the team is taking a patriotic time-out and we bring you two Inside the Huddle features with great American artists: Ricky Ian Gordon and Sylvia McNair! GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@2 min] Alright, this week…we go Inside the Huddle with Composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang! Later this month will be the world premiere recording of their first collaboration, An American Soldier will be released, just in time for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. [@37 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Santa Fe Opera announces their new season where friends of the show abound, Houston Grand Opera is teaming up with an English orchestra, and Eurovision gets in on the AAPI celebration. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@2 min] Alright, this week…we go Inside the Huddle with Patricia Racette! The newly appointed Artistic Director of Opera Theatre of St Louis returns to the OBS to share her strategy for storytelling and shaping the future of her new home company. [@41 min] And then...a Field Report from The Met’s Barber of Seville, described by our on-the-ground correspondent as a Money Machine... [@43 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Opera Philadelphia’s $11 dollar tickets are back and the 2025 Richard Tucker Award winner is announced. It’s a great time for opera in America. No obstacles or challenges for artists at all…. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@3 min] Alright, this week…we go Inside the Huddle with Gemma New. Having already achieved operatic glory in Opera Theater St Louis’s acclaimed production of Susannah, find out how the Kiwi conductor is preparing for her upcoming debut at Santa Fe Opera! [@17 min] Then...in Monday Evening Quarterback, we give you the play by play of the US premiere of a new orchestration of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha- which gets us thinking, what are the best operas never to be seen by their composers? [@42 min] Opera Theatre names Patricia Racette as its new Artistic Director, and Sonya Yoncheva wants to teach your children about classical music..first lesson, Tosca! GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@4 min] Alright, this week…THE Klaus Mäkelä takes a Free Throw. That’s right folks. We’re the only opera podcast to get an exclusive with the phenom Finnish conductor – for a whole 45 seconds! [@9 min] And since we’re taking a dip into the symphonic world with our new friend of the show Klaus Makela, stick around for the return of Spring Training for Your Ears: Symphonic Repertoire! [@40 min] Then, a field report on the Met’s Marriage of Figaro conducted by Joana Mallwitz (yo-AN-na MAHL-vits) with a very special Barbarina. [@43 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Detroit Opera risks being deported and Sir Bryn Terfel says, EF it, I’m going to Mexico. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@4 min] Alright, this week...friend of the show Andrew Jorgensen returns to take a Free Throw on the upcoming Opera Theatre of St Louis festival season. You’ll be shocked to find out which of the four productions he is looking forward to the most... [@16 min] And then…we exercise our opera snob muscles and discuss what makes an opera high art, like Wagner’s Ring Cycle, or pop garbage, like Charpentier’s Louise. [@32 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Jacksonville University decides that the arts aren’t important, Carolina Opera gets sued, but at least Kennedy Center believes in the red, white, and blue… GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@1 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Timothy Murray. The American baritone is having a breakout season which includes his debut at the Met and singing a title role at Opera Omaha this spring! Later this month, he brings his celebrated Don Giovanni to Opera Philadelphia... [@25 min] Then, we review the recording career of an artist who holds the record for Classical Grammy wins…and if you’re thinking of The Crossing, not yet…Keep listening to find out who. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@4 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Timothy Murray. The American baritone is having a breakout season which includes his debut at the Met and singing a title role at Opera Omaha this spring! Later this month, he brings his celebrated Don Giovanni to Opera Philadelphia... [@29 min] And then…as classically trained church singers head into the busiest week of the year, a galvanizing essay makes us all wonder if our acceptance of the status quo makes us are part of the problem. [@41 min] Plus, in the "Two Minute Drill"…bouncing back from his loss at the Oscars, Ralph Fiennes goes after an International Opera Award, and Anita Rachvelishvili takes Peter Gelb to court, and we’re not talking tennis here. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@4 min] Alright, this week...it’s the Final Four of our March Madness Summer Festival bracket! Who wins when England, France, and Germany dare to go against the US? [@33 min] Plus, in the "Two Minute Drill"…Breaking news as we record, season announcements, and the Kennedy Center…is still there. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@2 min] Alright, this week...we narrow our March Madness of Summer Festivals down to the Final Four! Who can challenge Glyndebourne in the UK quarter? [@21 min] Plus, in the "Two Minute Drill"…Opera Theater St Louis is getting an extreme makeover, opera edition, and Brooklyn Academy of Music may be broke, but they’ve got Barrie Kosky! GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 operaboxscore.bsky.social

[@3 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Yuval Sharon! The stage director, author, and administrator, who is famous for the parking lot Gotterdammerung and Backwards Boheme(™), is currently exploring artificial intelligence in his new concept for Cosi fan tutte. Sharon joins us to preview that upcoming production for Detroit Opera AND to answer the age-old question: Is there any opera in the standard canon that is fine just the way it is? [@25 min] And then…it’s our annual March Madness bracket. Find out which summer opera festivals made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and we put the call out to you to help pick the Elite Eight. [@33 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…the Laffont competition crowns five singers, and JD Vance gets booed at the Kennedy Center - that’s good news for most of us. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@3 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Nathan Granner! The American tenor is set to star in a revised version of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s "The Shining" at Portland Opera, but we had to ask him about the opera "Balls." [@33 min] And then…In Home Team, Lyric Opera of Chicago announces their next season, which includes performances by former creative consultant Renee Fleming and…the Smashing Pumpkins?….but, sadly, not on the same concert. [@46 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…In 2025, conductor Marin Alsop says she is not looking forward to the 30’s, and by that, she means the return of the 1930s. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@3 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Dr. Lucy Caplan, author of a recently published history of a Golden Age in American classical music called "Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed America Opera." In addition to tantalizing us with all the operas by American composers that have never been heard in modern times, Lucy Caplan also has ideas about what we should do instead of performing Aida in blackface. [@31 min] And then…soprano Joelle Harvey takes a Free Throw on the female voice and how experiences only women have affect the instrument. Thank goodness we have Ashlee on hand for that one... [@52 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Portland Opera is moving out of its mother’s basement and into its own loft downtown, and, breaking news, no one likes America anymore! GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@2 min] Alright, this week...THE Iestyn Davies takes a Free Throw on one of his signature role, Didymus in Handel’s Theodora. A role, incidentally, which will mark his debut with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque this weekend. And since Oliver loves Iestyn so much, we’ll revisit a favorite Inside the Huddle with the British countertenor from the OBS archives. [@44 min] And then, in the 'Two Minute Drill'…America will FINALLY celebrate Christ at Christmas. And it’s supposed to be BARBER of Seville, not CHEESEMONGER of Seville... GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@3 min] Alright, this week...Pene Pati takes a Free Throw on Rodolfo, the role which marks the star Samoan tenor’s debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago next month. As Rodolfo and Mimi are top two on the call sheet for La Boheme, we’ll handicap some of the commercial recordings of Puccini’s perennial people pleasing masterpiece. [@39 min] And then…Meridian Prall goes Inside the Huddle. Named an OBS artist to watch in 2025, so we are going to check in with the American mezzo-soprano in advance of her debut in Washington Concert Opera’s La clemenza di Tito. [@65 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…speaking of Washington..well, we’d rather not, but at least we can talk about the new Met season if America is still a thing in the fall. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@5 min] Alright...This week, we go Inside the Huddle with Elena Villalón! The Cuban-American soprano returns to OBS 6 years after she first joined after winning the Met Council auditions. Later this month, she makes her Detroit Opera debut in Handel’s "Rinaldo." [@36 min] And then…a Listener Mailbag on a song recital! Oliver, is this your doing? This is Opera Box Score, not Lieder Anzeigetafel! [@42 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…will a certain podcast be designated as an enemy of the state for not showing blind allegiance to the chairman? Stay tuned and find out..unless we’ve already been scrubbed from the internet. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@4 min] This week, baritenor Michael Spyres goes Inside the Huddle to discuss his unique fach, but it’s 2025 and Beyonce won a grammy for best country album, so what even is fach? We’ll discuss a brief history of the baritenor, bel canto edition. [@32 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Friend of the Show Karen Slack wins best vocal solo ,and it’s an unhappy ending for almost-friend-of-the-show-but-thankfully-it-never-worked-out baritone Justin Tucker. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

[@6 min] Alright, this week…in advance of "The Puccini Heroines," an all-Puccini arias concert at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sondra Radvanovsky takes a Free Throw on the singing the role of Turandot. Compared to Norma and Aida, you may be surprised to hear that it's one of her easiest roles. [@18 min] And then…in Listener Mailbag, we have field reports on all the vocal activity at Carnegie Hall including Song Studio, Friend of the Show Ying Fang with the Orchestra of St Luke’s, and Friend of the Show Ryan Speedo Green in recital with pianist Adam Nielsen. [@27 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…there *is* good news for 2025. Soprano Lise Davidsen has announced she is having twins! And if they are fraternal twins who inherit their mom’s voice, maybe in 2055 we will have a future dream team Sieglinde and Siegmund! GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore

Alright, this week…we're recording on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so we're going Inside the Huddle with two Black divas... [@ 1 min] First up, it’s soprano Symone Harcum, the star of Opera Philadelphia’s upcoming production of The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne. [@ 26 min] Then, Jordan Pitts, the creator of New York City and Paris Grand Opera’s Diva Creatine Price, goes Inside the Huddle to share his experience as a finalist in France’s Got Talent. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 bsky @operaboxscore