Opera Box Score

George, Oliver and Tobias preview the productions and artists they're looking forward to seeing and hearing in 2017... Plus you get all your opera headlines in 'The Two Minute Drill'... @operaboxscore #operaballs

Day after Christmas? Hell, yeah, we have a show! But it's podcast-only! Guest co-host Matthan Black joins George to talk about the best and worst of 2016. They take you through the year's highs and lows: of opera news stories, live productions and their own personal artistic decisions... @operaboxscore #operaballs

Tonight it’s the final installment of our three-part series listening to and talking about our favorite holiday pieces of classical music. Daina tells George what’s on her playlist... But first, in ‘Chalk Talk’, we talk about the best and worst of 2016. Daina takes us through her highs and lows of opera news stories, live productions and personal artistic decisions... Also, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Very happy merry! @operaboxscore #operaballs

The holidays are here, and we’re continuing our three-part series listening to and talking about our favorite holiday pieces of classical music. Tonight, creative consultant Oliver Camacho tells us what’s on his Christmas playlist and introduces us to a few major works that don’t get as much play as Handel’s 'Messiah' or Mariah Carey’s 'All I Want for Christmas'... But first, in ‘Chalk Talk’, we talk about Russian baritone Dimitri Hvorostovsky. He’s been battling brain cancer for months, and now he’s withdrawn from all future opera performances. Can he return to the stage? If not, who’ll take his place? And what sort of a void will not singing roles leave in the life of one of the world’s biggest opera stars? Guest co-host and baritone Matthan Black chimes in... And you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore #operaballs

The holidays have arrived, and here on the OBS we’re ready to celebrate. How? With a three-part series examining holiday operas, of course. Tonight, we take a closer look at Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors”. Tender feel-good show or cheap sentimentality? We’ll tell you what we think... But first, we discuss the Metropolitan Opera’s struggle to program new commissions. We’ll let you know what the problems are and how they might be solved... Also, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... @operaboxscore #operaballs

It's a special podcast-only show! Let the swearing begin! In ‘Chalk Talk’, George and Oliver take a look at those events that happen before and after an opera performance: pre-show lectures, post-show discussions and, as seen last Sunday night at LA Opera, after-parties. Do they add to the experience or do they distract from the main event...? Then, you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Plus, ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ returns, when we review the new production of “Les Troyens”, by Hector Berlioz, at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mega hit or epic fail? We’ll tell you what we think... And you tell us what you think! @operaboxscore #operaballs

It’s a ‘Chalk Talk’ double-header tonight. In Part One, Tobias and Daina and George reveal what they’re each thankful for in opera; see if you’re thankful for the same things... You get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Then, in ‘Chalk Talk’ Part Two, the boys (and girl) talk about turkeys and take a few potshots. Find out what some of the dud ideas, dreadful productions and dismal moments have been so far this opera season... Are you on Twitter? #operaballs

Whether you’re surprised or not, Donald Trump has been elected President of these United States. What can opera teach us about why he won? And what is the future for opera under the Trump administration...? Then, 'Pop Quiz' returns. Oliver and Daina team up to identify operas just by listening to each work’s overture. They’ll be up against the clock. Play at home to see if you can beat them... And of course you get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in 'The Two Minute Drill'...

Tonight, we go Inside the Huddle with tenor Scott Brunscheen and soprano Kimberly Jones. They're in Chicago Opera Theater's current production of Purcell's 'The Fairy Queen'. Hear what they have to say about the rehearsal process of this sexy update of a Baroque classic... In Chalk Talk, Oliver tackles a noisy audience member at a recent production of Humperdinck’s 'Hansel and Gretel' at Seattle Opera. George tackles Isaac Mizrahi, the sports-allergic Honorary Chairman of last month’s National Opera Week. And, yes, you’ll get all your opera headlines and our hot takes on them in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... #operaballs

Guest producer Matthan Black is joined by creative consultant Oliver Camacho on our annual Hallowe'en show! Listen, if you dare, to the scariest music in the opera repertoire... Then, be brave and join Matthan and Oliver 'Inside the Huddle' when they interview horror film composer Ross Crean... Plus, 'Monday Evening Quarterback' takes you into the terrifying world of Nico Muhly's opera "Dark Sisters" at Third Eye Ensemble... And, you get all your opera head(less)lines in 'The Two Minute Drill'... Whatever you do, don't look behind you... #operaballs

We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Kim Witman from Wolf Trap Opera. She joins us to talk opera stats, and to give her insider takes on young artist auditions... But first, we talk to Brad Caleb Lee, assistant director on the upcoming production of Missy Mazzoli’s opera “Song from the Uproar” at Chicago Fringe Opera. You’ll get an exclusive look into the sonic world of this unique work, as well as its characters, design concept and rehearsal process... And, naturally, you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Go Cubs Go! #operaballs

If you’ve never heard a Heldentenor with a good ol’ boy East Texas accent, you haven’t lived. We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with tenor Jay Hunter Morris. He’s currently rehearsing Jake Heggie’s opera “Moby Dick” at the Dallas Opera. We talk Cowboys, Cubs and opera careers... Also, Toby and George do a mid-season check in on what’s happened in Operaland so far this Fall, and Oliver plays ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ on the production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Plus, you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’...

This show is all-Wagner, all the time! In our ‘Chalk Talk’ segment, we talk about what makes Wagner, Wagner; and why his operas matter... ‘Monday Evening Quarterback’ revisits “Das Rheingold” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Frank Martin’s “Le vin herbé” at Chicago Opera Theater... ‘TKO’ returns! Oliver Camacho is the judge as Jonas Kaufmann and Ben Heppner battle it out singing Siegmund’s aria “Winterstürme” from 'Die Walküre'... Plus, you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’... Don't forget to leave us a review -- with stars -- on iTunes, or troll us: @operaboxscore and #operaballs

In 'Chalk Talk', George and Tobias reveal how opera singers get hurt. What happens to your performance that night, and what happens to your career the next day...? 'Monday Evening Quarterback' returns, as Oliver reviews Wagner's “Das Rheingold” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Frank Martin’s opera “Le vin herbé” at Chicago Opera Theater... Plus, the team will ‘Crunch the Numbers’ and look at the stats behind the most common baritone arias sung in auditions...

Welcome to Season 2 of America's talk radio show about opera! George and Tobias DVR the first presidential debate and talk opera... In our ‘Chalk Talk’ segment, we look at two stories of two different African-American men who got into the opera business against all the odds: bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green who beat juvenile hall to make it into the ensemble at the Vienna State Opera, and Morris Robinson, who finished his college football career at The Citadel before singing at the Metropolitan Opera.... Then it’s one of our new segments, called ‘The Hot Seat’, in which we take a look at an opera figure who has made a big career move, or made a tough choice, that has brought them into the public eye. This week we focus on Oliver Mears, who has just been appointed as the Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London... Plus you get all your opera headlines in ‘The Two Minute Drill’, and we wrap up with another new segment called ‘Crunching the Numbers’. We interpret some cold, hard stats from opera

This week, George and Oliver are joined by stage director Rose Freeman and mezzo-soprano Marysa Abbas. (Abbas is also the Managing Diva of Opera on Tap's Chicago chapter.) We debate the ways in which success is defined in the opera business, and what control artists have over their career paths... Then, our 'Monday Evening Quarterback' segment returns, as we review Haymarket Opera's production of Haydn's 1779 work "L'isola disabitata"...

School is back in session, so we're heading back to school here on the OBS. Check out our 'Chalk Talk' segment, in which we tackle the Ins and Outs, the Pros and Cons, of undergraduate and graduate voice programs... Tenor Matt Cummings joins us as a guest co-host. He's currently completing his Masters Degree in Voice and Opera from Northwestern. Recent credits include Little Bat in Floyd's 'Susannah' and Snout in Britten's 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'. He also spent last summer as a Studio Artist at Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, in the city where he grew up... Plus, you'll get all your opera headlines and all our hot takes in 'The Two Minute Drill'...

Hell, yeah, we had a show on a national holiday. Mezzo-soprano and blogger Daina Fischer (www.agentlewoman.com) joins George and Tobias live in-studio for 'Inside the Huddle'...! Then, in 'Chalk Talk', we talk about the worst audition experiences ever, and we asked to hear your stories. Thanks to all of you who called and wrote. (All names and incriminating details have been changed...) 'The Two Minute Drill' is found in the final third of the episode...!

This week Patrick Dean Shelton joins the show as a guest co-host. A recent graduate of New England Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of soprano Jane Eaglen, Patrick is currently a Professional Diploma candidate at the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. This past summer, he was a Fellow at the Music Academy of the West... George, Oliver and Tobias go 'inside the Huddle' with Patrick, and learn how life has taken him coast-to-coast. Then, in our 'Chalk Talk' segment, we discuss YAPs (Young Artist Programs): are they totally essential to developing one's singing career, or are they a total con...? Plus, we’ve got all your opera headlines in our ‘Two Minute Drill’ segment... Rock it!

This week we go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Nick Hayman, a stage manager from England who’s worked at the Royal Opera House, in the West End and on tour through the UK and US. Don’t miss what he has to say when I ask him: “Isn’t stage management the least sexy thing in opera...?” Then, in our ‘Chalk Talk’ segment, we reveal a recent slate of opera productions whose violence and sexual content have forced their producers to issue warnings to ticket buyers, lest they be offended by what they see. George asks Oliver if maybe operas should be given ratings, just like movies... Plus, we’ve got all your opera headlines in our ‘Two Minute Drill’ segment...