San Diego Opera Podcast

One of the things that attracts us all to Bizet's Carmen is his use of the orchestra, especially in those wonderful entr'actes the he places prior to each act.  Let's explore and have a listen to them as we look forward to our 2011 International Season!

In olden days (!), Gounod's opera Faust was performed in its entirety.  That makes for a very long evening.  Having recently caught a Met broadcast on Sirius radio from 1972 with Domingo, Zylis-Gara and Tozzi (as a marvelous Mephistopheles!), I can attest that it took forever, however gorgeous the performance was!  The scene that is normally dropped for both time and dramatic reasons is the Walpurgis Night Scene.  Let's take a listen to some of the music from that scene.

Did you ever wonder exactly why Richard Strauss uses the waltz throughout his comic opera Der Rosenkavalier?  Considering that the story takes place in mid-18th century Vienna (a time when the waltz had not quite developed yet) it seems a bit anachronistic.  And yet, Strauss makes it work so well!  Listen to a theory proposed by the great conductor Georg Solti and a few choice examples from the score!

One doesn't automatically think of Giacomo Puccini as a "choral" composer, but there are some glorious choral moments in nearly all of his operas as well as a lovely Mass, the Messa di Gloria.  The chorus writing in Turandot, however, is masterful and the choristers are busy throughout the entire opera.  Let's explore some of this wonderful music.

You're probably aware that there are lots of "danceable" moments in Bizet's opera Carmen.  Let's explore some of those moments, one of which might surprise you!

One of the most memorable moments in Gounod's opera Faust is the baritone aria, "Avant de quitter ces lieux".  It is probably the most popular aria for lyric baritones to audition with, as well as a key moment in the opera.  By the way, it ain't easy!  Let's listen to three baritones from three different generations of opera artists apply their mastery to this wonderful piece.

Strauss parodies the "Italianate" style, especially Puccini, in Act One of Der Rosenkavalier with the appearance of the Italian Singer.  Let's spend a bit of time with this character who'll be sung in our production this coming season by Stephen Costello, our Faust for 2011.

It's the classic problem with Puccini's Turandot: how do you move the audience's sympathies from Liu to the title character after falling in love with the beautiful young slave girl?  It was Puccini's problem, and we're not sure he entirely solved it.  Let's explore and listen!

Carmen premiered at the Opera Comique in Paris in March, 1875.  The Comique had certain performing traditions that Bizet and his team had to follow, one of them being that dialogue between characters was normally spoken, not sung.  In fact it wasn't until after Bizet's death in June of that same year that the fully-sung version of the opera was first presented to the public.  Let's briefly explore the difference in these two versions.

If you don't know who Baron Ochs is, take a listen.  He's the biggest boor in opera and he's the comic foil to the romance and the waltz atmosphere of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.  Here's a short introduction.

You mean, there were original cast recordings of Puccini's last opera?  Yes, there were.  There are also recordings of some of the singers that Puccini wanted to cast in the roles of Turandot and Calaf back in 1926 but who ended up being unavailable.  Let's take a listen to some real audio history!

Just as we did last week with Faust, here are some stellar examples of great tenors who made Don Jose in Carmen a signature role.  What could be more challenging for a singing actor than to trace the deterioration of a character both musically and dramatically in an exciting evening of opera?  Listen in!

There is no dearth of great tenors who have recorded portions or all of the role of Faust in Gounod's opera.  Let's listen to a few of them: Caruso, Gigli, Bjoerling, Corelli and Gedda.  What fun!

Something common to many operas composed after the death of Richard Wagner is the use of the leitmotif, a musical idea, tune or melodic "germ" used by a composer to unify a complicated score.   Richard Strauss was one of the earliest inheritors of the leitmotif system and he uses it with abandon in Der Rosenkavalier.  Let's explore some of the leitmotifs used in that opera.

Thanks to an Italian diplomat who'd spent some time in China and gave a Chinese music box to the composer, Puccini was able to discover and then use actual folk tunes within the fabric of his score for the opera Turandot.  This podcast will introduce you to those tunes as they are utilized by Puccini in order to help you get to know more about the opera.  Have fun!

Some of you might be familiar with the name, some of you may not.  But there was a time when, especially in Europe, mezzo-soprano Conchita Supervia was considered the greatest Carmen of all time.  Luckily for us, she left some brilliant recordings behind, dating from the 1930s.  Take a listen and see if you agree that this singer might just have left a standard of performance that has yet to be surpassed!

We're lucky in that many of the great sopranos of the past who've sung the role of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust recorded excerpts or were involved in complete commercial recordings of the work.  Let's survey them and bask for awhile in the beauty of these voices!

In Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier we have a wonderful example of a hosenrolle or 'trouser role', a female singer portraying a male character in an opera.  Strauss and other composers in opera history had a lot of fun with these roles, and it's time to explore how Octavian fits into the tradition.

One of the most exciting male roles in all of Puccini's operas is the role of Calaf, the Tartar Prince who comes to China and falls in love with Turandot.  Although Miguel Fleta, who created the role in 1926, did not record anything from the role the tenor whom the composer had in mind all along did.  Take a listen to some of the tenors who made the role famous, find out more about Calaf and hear some beautiful music!

Sure, she's the 'star', and yes, she gets all the great, memorable tunes.  But did you every think that maybe, just possibly, the opera is really about Don Jose?  Musically, at least, I think he's more interesting!  Let's take a listen!