San Diego Opera Podcast

What's up with operas like Aida, The Pearl Fishers, Madama Butterfly and Turandot?  Nineteenth century opera seemed to corner the market on exotic locales. 

OK, OK, I was just trying to get your attention.  Nothing salacious here, just a brief overview of the guys at the bottom.  No, really!

The old man knew what he was doing: he wanted opera to be real theatre.  And if a Verdi opera doesn't come off that way, then something's wrong.

The baritone is the man's man of opera.  If George Clooney were an opera singer, he'd probably be one.  But he's not.  So we won't go there.

Because.  A brief history of Italy and its relationship to one of her most glorious exports.  Besides limoncello.  Say Euridice three times fast.

Mamas, witches and gypsies.  And real women with an independent streak.  If The Sopranos were an opera, Livia would be one.  A mezzo, that is.

A brief history of something you didn't know existed until you started coming to San Diego Opera.  Why don't we just call it a song and be done with it?

The sopranos all die and the tenors have all the sex.  Wassup wid dat?

Maybe it oughta be.  But short answer: no.  Tune in the long answer.  It's got something to do with beautiful singing and we've got it!

...or Carmela or Meadow or Johnny Sack.  But if you want to get to know the other sopranos, tune in.  Coloraturas, dramatics, lyrics...they're all gorgeous and they're all here.

Something kind of cool happens when words and music meet.  You know, your song??  It reminds you of when you met that special person...where you were, what you did, maybe even what time it was.  Multiply that by one hundred and you have opera!