Opera For Everyone

In this second annual Holiday Special, host Pat Wright is joined by frequent guest co-host Grant Wright to take a close look and listen to that long-standing Christmas favorite, Handel’s Messiah. Neither an opera, nor Christmas music (it was an oratorio written for the Easter season), Messiah tells a sweeping story using words selected and compiled entirely from the Bible by Charles Jennens, and set to the magnificent and enduring music that George Frideric Handel composed in the mid-eighteenth century. Learn the context of the spectacular Hallelujah Chorus, and enjoy this baroque masterpiece.

La Fanciulla Del West, The Girl of the Golden West, is a three-act opera by Giacomo Puccini that premiered at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1910. Set in gold rush California, this is the story of a saloon owner, the desperado she loves, and the sheriff who loves her and wants him dead. With special guest, Greg.

Roberto Devereaux, from 1837, is a Bel Canto opera by Gaetano Donizetti set at the end of the end of the reign of Elizabeth I of England. The opera is the third of Donizetti’s “Tudor Queen Operas,” preceded by Anna Bolena (1830) and Maria Stuarda (1835). The man, Roberto Devereaux, is the last in a series of courtiers favored by the famous Virgin Queen. However, Roberto has seriously disappointed both Elizabeth and Parliament. Matters of state and matters of the heart provided inspiration for both librettist Salvatore Cammaramo and composer Donizetti. English history was a starting point, but the story is not limited to the facts. Invention and imagination soar with the beautiful Bel Canto tunes. Hosted by Pat Wright and Keely Herron.

Samson et Dalila is Camille Saint-Saëns’ magnificent three-act opera based on the biblical story of Samson and Delilah, with a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It premiered in 1877 and remains the sole opera in the popular modern opera repertoire by this prolific composer. In the opera we see Samson struggle to not only to convince his people to remain true to their beliefs, but also struggle with himself to resist the temptations of the beautiful and seductive Delilah. Though you may know “how the story ends,” there is nothing to compare to the power of the operatic dramatization of the unfolding events. Hosted by Pat Wright and Keely Herron.

Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni & I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo are arguably Opera’s most well-known double-bill. Two verismo operas, they each present an unvarnished “slice of life” in small-town Italy of the late 19th century. Direct and compressed, the stories of both operas feature lust, infidelity, merriment and murder. Cavalleria Rusticana, “Rustic Chivalry” uses splendid music to amplify human passions, particularly those of a young man and young woman who never quite become a couple. I Pagliacci tells the tale of the man behind the clown’s mask, those in his orbit, and shows the danger of believing in simple characters we see on stage. Hosted by Pat Wright and Keely Herron.

Aida premiered in Cairo in December 1871. Giuseppe Verdi’s four-act opera, Aida, was commissioned for the newly constructed opera house in Cairo, following the celebrations for the opening of the Suez Canal. Taking inspiration from a third century story discovered by Egyptologist Auguste Marietta, librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni worked with Verdi to create a drama which is both grand and intimate, set in Egypt, “in the time of the Pharaohs.” The opera’s magnificent music depicts spectacle and triumph for the state, and praise for the gods. It also brings us close to all of the emotions of three people caught up in a high-stakes love triangle. Join us for a story of achingly beautiful tenderness, soaring triumph, and devoted resignation on this episode of Opera for Everyone. Hosted by Pat Wright and Keely Herron.

A Baroque-style opera by George Frideric Handel, Rodelinda premiered in 1725 in London. Considered by Beethoven to be “the greatest composer who ever lived,” Handel created operas which tug at our emotions and fill our senses. The title character of Rodelinda is a queen who is under house-arrest following the supposed death of her royal husband. She rebuffs the persistent advances of his usurper and his scheming advisor, all while bravely protecting her young son. Events do not go smoothly when her husband returns on the scene. Dare we hope for a happy ending? Find out on this episode of Opera for Everyone.

La Rondine, “The Swallow,” is an opera in three acts by the famed Italian composer Giacomo Puccini and librettist Giuseppe Adami which had its premiere in 1917 in Monte Carlo. Originally commissioned to write an operetta by the Carltheater in Vienna, Puccini decided in favor of a full opera. La Rondine refers to the title character, Magda, who opens the story as the glittering hostess of a lively Parisian party in the apartment she shares with a wealthy elder gentleman, Rambaldo. One of the guests, the poet Prunier, opines on romantic love, and Magda wistfully recalls a brief romance of her youth, and considers the possibility of finding romance once again, in spite of her very stable and practical current arrangement. Magda’s spunky maid, Lisette, announces the arrival of a young man from the countryside, and, well, you can imagine how events might unfold. . . Hosted by Pat Wright and Keely Herron.

Il Trittico is a set of three one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini that premiered in 1918. The first opera, IlTabarro, centers on an evening in the life of river workers on a barge in Paris’s Seine of the early 20th century. The second opera, Suor Angelica, takes place entirely in a convent and features only female singers. It is set in the late 17th century, and give a glimpse into life of the convent sisters and how they manage their desires. The final opera, Gianni Schicchi, is comedic and cautionary tale. Inspired by Dante’s Canto 30 on falsifiers, Gianni Schicchi, shows a world of two emotions: greed and love. Love may triumph, but greed keeps us astonished and amused.

Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini. It premiered at Milan’s LaScala in 1903, and with a few revisions by Puccini after its opening, it has become one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. Inspired to make the story into an opera after seeing David Belasco’s play Madame Butterfly in London, Puccini created one of the most beloved characters in the world of opera. The story focuses on a young Japanese woman, Butterfly, who marries and American naval officer, Pinkerton, who is stationed in Nagasaki. The two marry, but have a very different understanding of the meaning of this cross-cultural marriage. These different understandings have tragic results for Butterfly. Puccini’s music is lush and powerful, at times including influences from America and Japan. In this episode of Opera for Everyone we discuss both the opera, and the popular stories which led to its creation.