[@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 HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1bsky @operaboxscore
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54:41
Mellon Collie and the Anthropocene! ft. Nathan Granner
[@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 HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1bsky @operaboxscore
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1:04:20
Chief Lady Correspondent! ft. Lucy Caplan & Joelle Harvey
[@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 HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1bsky @operaboxscore
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1:11:26
His Majesty’s Pole Dancer! ft. Iestyn Davies
[@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 HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1bsky @operaboxscore
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1:07:09
Pene Pati and Meridian Prall!
[@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 HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1bsky @operaboxscore