VPR Classical

This Met production of Rossini's Barber of Seville is a comedy classic for the whole family. It's sung in English and abbreviated to 2 hours.

 

Peter Fox Smith explores two operas - Puccini's La Boheme and Massenet's Werther - both of which take place around Christmas.

 

The second opera of the Met's radio broadcast season is Verdi's Aida, set in ancient Egypt. The title character is an enslaved Ethiopian princess caught in a romantic triangle with the heroic Radames and the Egyptian princess, Amneris.

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Peter Fox Smith previews the 1 p.m. live MET broadcast of Verdi's timeless grand opera Aida.

Playlist

Aida: Act IV
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Ensemble Vienna Philharmonic
Conductor Herbert von Karajan
Album Verdi: Aida
Record Label EMI

The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast season begins with a new production of Verdi's dramatic Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). It's based loosely on actual events surrounding the assassination of Sweden's King Gustave III at a masked ball in 1792. The Met's new production updates the setting to the early 20th century.

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Pergolesi's famous intermezzo about a maid who becomes mistress of the house - through a BIG trick!

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La Serva Padrona: Part 1
Composer Giovanni Pergolesi
Ensemble Combattimento
Conductor David Mason
Album Pergolesi: La Serva Padrona / Salve Regina
Record Label Meridian

Our final Saturday Matinee from the Houston Grand Opera is Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role.

Playlist

Maria Stuarda
Composer Gaetano Donizetti
Ensemble Houston Grand Opera
Conductor Patrick Summers

What really happens at the seance? What's real and what's a sham? These questions are addressed in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium. Peter Fox Smith features it today on A Passion for Opera.

Playlist

The Medium: selections
Composer Gian Carlo Menotti
Ensemble Chicago Opera Theatre Orchestra
Conductor Lawrence Rapchak
Album Menotti: The Medium
Record Label Cedille

The Houston Grand Opera presents Verdi's Don Carlos, sung in French.

Playlist

Don Carlos
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Ensemble Houston Grand Opera
Conductor Patrick Summers

Peter Fox Smith introduces us to Puccini's long neglected early opera Edgar.

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Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Overture (excerpt)
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ensemble Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Album Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Record Label Telarc

If ever there were a staple of the operatic repertory worthy of its prominent position, it is Verdi's La traviata, which we hear in a production by the Houston Grand Opera.

Playlist

La traviata: Act I
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Ensemble Houston Grand Opera
Conductor Patrick Summers
Record Label Houston Grand Opera

We continue our exploration of operatic prologues with the Prologue to Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and the Prologue to Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.

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Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Overture (excerpt)
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ensemble Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Album Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Record Label Telarc

This weekend Capital City Concerts will present an orchestral concert in Montpelier and Rutland, featuring 26 musicians drawn from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and other groups. Music of Mozart, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Ravel and Wagner will be on the program. CCC director and flutist Karen Kevra gives us a preview.

http://www.vpr.net/audio/programs/49/2012/11/Kevra Nov 2012.mp3

In the first of two programs of operatic prologues, we hear the Prologue to Monteverdi's Orfeo, the Prologue to Pagliacci, and the Prologue to Gouml;tterdauml;mmerung.

Playlist

Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Overture (excerpt)
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ensemble Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Album Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Record Label Telarc

On Saturday, November 10, pianist David Kaplan will play Bach's Goldberg Variations at College Street Congregational Church, under the auspices of the Burlington Ensemble. David joins us Friday morning for a live performance preview.

http://www.vpr.net/audio/programs/49/2012/11/David Kaplan Live 110912 for web.mp3

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The Houston Grand Opera's production of Beethoven's Fidelio features Karita Mattila as Leonore and Simon O'Neill as Florestan.

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Fidelio: Act I
Composer Ludwig van Beethoven
Ensemble Houston Grand Opera
Conductor Michael Hofstetter
Record Label Houston Grand Opera

In celebration of the November 3, 1801 birthday of Vincenzo Bellini, we hear excerpts from various recordings of Norma, his bel canto masterpiece.

Playlist

Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Overture (excerpt)
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ensemble Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Album Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Record Label Telarc

The Houston Grand Opera kicks off its 2012 broadcast season with Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia with Nathan Gunn as Figaro.

Playlist

Il barbiere di Siviglia: Act I
Composer Gioachino Rossini
Ensemble Houston Grand Opera
Conductor Leonardo Vordoni
Record Label Houston Grand Opera

We continue our festival of operatic farewells with singers of the past and present - and in four languages!

Playlist

Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Overture (excerpt)
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ensemble Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Album Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Record Label Telarc

The San Francisco Opera concludes its broadcast season with Verdi's long-neglected opera Attila, with Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role.

Listen Saturday at 1:00p.m.

Playlist

Attila: Act I
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Ensemble San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor Nicola Luisotti
Record Label San Francisco Opera