Met Opera Guild Podcast

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have the last of three episodes exploring how the operatic canon is being expanded, featuring Guild lecturer Matthew Timmermans. In this final episode, he will dive into how the Met’s production of foreign works such as Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Britten’s Peter Grimes have expanded the boundaries of the canon. This marks our final podcast episode of this season, but we will return on August 9 with a brand new season! Until then, make sure to follow The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Opera News, and The Metropolitan Opera on your favorite social media platforms to keep up to date on all things opera!

Today, we have the second of three episodes exploring how the operatic canon is being expanded, featuring Guild lecturer Matthew Timmermans. In this episode, he will dive into star-studded revivals —looking at somewhat unknown operas that are often revived with all-star casts, such as Cherubini’s Medea and Giordano’s Fedora.

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have the first of three episodes exploring how the operatic canon is being expanded, featuring Guild lecturer Matthew Timmermans. In this first episode, he will dive into two new productions that have pushed the boundaries of the canon—Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Kevin Puts’s The Hours.

On today’s episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we are delving into our archives to explore Die Zauberflöte with the late renowned music scholar Father Owen Lee. Die Zauberflöte is a sublime and magical fairytale full of mysticism, love, and humor. Listen to learn more about the opera’s fantastical drama and ethereal score.

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we are joined by lecturer Phillip Gainsley as he explores the music and drama of Don Giovanni. Based on the legend of Don Juan, Mozart’s masterpiece has remained on the operatic stage since its premiere in 1787 and has gone on to become a cultural behemoth, inspiring playwrights such as Peter Shaffer and other composers such as Liszt and Tchaikovsky. On today’s episode, we will delve into what makes this evergreen opera as popular today as it was in the 18th century.

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we are joined by lecturer Tanisha Mitchell as she discusses the music and real-life themes of Champion, an “opera in jazz.”

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have the second of two episodes exploring the mythos and myths of Wagner’s male characters, featuring Guild lecturer Desiree Mays. In this second episode, she will continue to explore the ideas of myth and mythos and how they are presented in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Lohengrin.

Mythos, myth, legend and folk art were all topics that captivated Richard Wagner when he was no longer satisfied with realistic situations and the confines of time and space. On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have the first of two episodes exploring the myth and mythos of Wagner’s male characters, featuring Guild lecturer Desiree Mays. In this first episode she will explore the idea of myth and mythos and how it is presented through the doom-ridden Dutchman.

Lohengrin is a pivotal work in Wagner’s stylistic development, showcased by his tremendous ability to represent the psychology of his characters through music. Lohengrin returned to the Met stage this season, in a brand-new production by director François Girard, whose previous work includes the Met’s stunning production of Parsifal in 2013. On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we are joined by Guild lecturer John J. H. Muller as he explores the history and music of this epic tale of the mysterious swan knight.

On today's episode of the Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we are joined by soprano and the Guild's School Programs Senior Associate, Alyson Sheehan, as she discusses the bel canto classic, L'Elisir d'Amore.

On today's Met Opera Guild podcast, we are joined by musicologist and lecturer Diana Maron as she discusses the evolution of early recording technology and opera.

Verdi’s final opera, Falstaff, is based on Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Part 1, but it did not become a huge success until Arturo Toscanini insisted on reviving it at La Scala, and later The Metropolitan Opera, in the 1890s. On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild podcast, we are joined by Voice Teacher, Stage Director and Educator, Doreen Hutchings as she discusses the humor, music, and staging challenges within Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff.

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have a historic recording from our Talking About Opera archives featuring Guild Lecturer Father Owen Lee. The musical examples come from the Virgin Classics recording with Catherine Dubosc, Rita Gorr, Martine Dupuy, Rachel Yakar, and Jose van Dam, conducted by Kent Nagano.

Returning to the Met after an absence of 25 years, Giordano’s opera Fedora is full of murder, political intrigue and many more melodramatic twists and turns. Perhaps best known for its famous tenor aria, “Amor ti vieta,” the opera is nonetheless a stage vehicle for the prima donna. On today’s episode of the Metropolitan Opera Guild podcast, join the Guild’s Director of Learning and Engagement, Stuart Holt, as he explores the drama and music of Fedora.

On today's episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, we have a historic recording from our Talking About Opera archives featuring Guild Lecturer Albert Innaurato.

On this episode of the Met Opera Guild Podcast, lecturer Michael Bolton explores Britten’s magnificent meditation on isolation and persecution.

Cherubini was a child prodigy who composed several works by the time he was thirteen, before turning his sights to the operatic stage. Perhaps his most famous work, Medea opened the 2022-23 Met Opera season, marking the company premiere of the opera. We welcomeD lecturer and radio personality, Nimet Habachy, as she explores the life and times of Cherubini and his most famous opera, Medea.

Based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and seen as one of the most significant operas of the 20th century, Shostakovich’s work returns to the Met this season, featuring soprano Svetlana Sozdateleva and tenor Brandon Javonovich as the deadly Katerina and her lover. Today’s episode features lecturer Harlow Robinson as he explores this story of adultery and murder.

Opera Outlooks, Master Classes, Boot Camps, and more are back LIVE and online at the Metropolitan Opera Guild! Find out more about the exciting array of Met Opera Guild learning opportunities in this season on today’s episode of The Metropolitan Opera Guild podcast!

In the last part of our series Opera and Greek Drama, we’ll conclude our journey of Greek drama after the Trojan War with arguably the most violent and bloodthirsty of Greek myths, the saga of Agamemnon. Lecturer Matthew Timmermans will begin by returning to Gluck, looking at his Iphigénie en Tauride (1779), one of the many operas he wrote for the French stage after his career in Italy. Then, he will discuss one of operas most powerful, beautiful, and disturbing musical adaptations, Strauss’s Elektra.