Opera Box Score
America's Talk Radio Show About Opera. Period.
Episodes
[@ 4 min] Alright, this week…it’s the best of OBS, Holiday Edition! The team recommends their favorite performances by opera singers singin’ Christmas…
[@ 11 min] Plus, Ashlee Hardgrave gives us a roundup of the most important remixes of Handel’s Messiah, including A Soulful Celebration and Blue Claw Philharmonic…and since we don’t want any news to spoil the fun, we’ll skip the ‘Two Minute Drill.’
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[@ 5 min] Alright, this week…a field report from the New Opera Dialogues convention with free throws from some of this year’s panelists, including composer Kevin Puts, librettist Mark Campbell, and singer-composer Diana Syrse, and more…
[@ 31 min] And then…as 2025 reaches its final inning, the Team drafts their own BEST OF lists in what will go down in history as one hell of a year…in opera, that is.
[@ 54 min] Plus, in th...
[@ 3 min] Alright, this week…Gregory Spears goes Inside the Huddle! The American composer is in the middle of a banner season, which includes the 10th anniversary of his opera, Fellow Travelers. Find out about his new opera, Sleepers Awake, a reimagining of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, which gets its world premiere this spring...
[@ 35 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...a protestor apologizes for disrupting a performa...
[@ 2 min] Alright, this week…Soula Parassidis goes Inside the Huddle! Find out how the Greek-Canadian soprano amassed a loyal Instagram fan base by poking fun at the opera industry, and then pivoted to create a platform to address all the real issues for those who want to enter into this career.
[@ 34 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...it’s curtains for the Royal ballet and Opera, plus more studies show how listening to ...
[@ 2 min] Alright, this week…It’s Thanksgiving! There are so many ways to find, experience, and learn about opera in the 21st century, and we at Opera Box Score are feeling grateful for all of them. And, hey, if you’re feeling grateful for opera content, I can suggest at least one donation link on operaboxscore.com that you can use to prove it…
[@ 28 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...protestors breach security at the Me...
[@ 4 min] Alright, this week…James Gaffigan goes Inside the Huddle! The American conductor, who was recently named Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, is set to conduct Salome at the Komishe Oper, which opens this Saturday in Berlin. Gaffigan shares his perspective on making music in Germany, and what Americans always bring to the table...
[@ 41 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...The Hymens, I mean, the International ...
[@ 2 min] Alright, this week…Victor Ryan Robertson goes Inside the Huddle! The genre-defying tenor is wrapping up performances of La Traviata with Louisville Opera and is set to star in a double-bill of two rarely performed American works: William Grant Still’s 'Highway 1,' and Kurt Weill’s 'Down in the Valley 'with Detroit Opera. AND it turns out that he gave up a career in tennis to pursue singing. Uh-oh. Wes...
[@ 10 min] Alright, this week…Jeanine De Bique goes Inside the Huddle! The Trinidadian soprano is on her way to the US for a recital tour, including stops in New York and Chicago before making her subscription series debut with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra in Mozart’s Requiem!
[@ 35 min] And then…we reach into the Listener Mailbag for a report on the Met’s 'Don Giovanni' from our good friend PJ...
[@ 6 min] Alright, this week…it’s our Halloween Spooktacular! This year, we ask what the scariest moments in opera are…if you’re performing in one. It’s the showiest moments that bring delight to the audience, but dread to the tenor. Listen … if you dare!
[@ 30 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...Katie Mitchelll quits opera, and Francesca Zambello asks everyone else not to.
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[@ 13 min] Alright, this week…Carlo Rizzi goes Inside the Huddle. One of the world’s foremost opera conductors and Artistic Director of Opera Rara, the latest volume of his Donizetti Song Project (featuring Friend of the Show soprano Ermonela Jaho) just dropped, as the Maestro concludes a run ofTurandot at the Met. The Italian conductor joins OBS to share his passion for Puccini and to offer a few choice words about the situation a...
[@ 4 min] Alright, this week…Annie Burridge goes Inside the Huddle. General Director of Austin Opera, Annie Burridge is marking her 10th anniversary with the company that is also kicking off its 40th birthday season with a Spectacular Birthday Concert. 40 is the new 30…so that makes Oliver…what, 60?
[@ 36 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...Performances of Wozzeck have been cancelled at La Fenice. Okay, NOW it's get...
[@ 2 min] Alright, this week…Joshua Collier, artistic director of Opera Vermont, goes Inside the Huddle to share his company’s vision for presenting a multi-year cycle of the operas of William Grant Still.
[@ 33 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...is classical music criticism dead, or is it just in charge of the obituary section at the New York Times?
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[@ 3 min] Alright, this week…Sun-Ly Pierce goes Inside the Huddle. Currently starring in the Met’s premiere production of the Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, the Chinese American mezzo-soprano looks back at her break-out season, which included a leading role at Des Moines Metro Opera, being an Operalia finalist, and jumping into her Met debut.
[@ 40 min] Plus, in the Two Minute Drill...Grace Bumbry gets the posthumous PBS...
[@ 2 min] Alright, this week…Matthew Polenzani goes Inside the Huddle! The internationally acclaimed, Evanston, Illinois-native superstar tenor returns to his home stadium as Giasone in Medea.
[@ 19 min] Then…What’s YOUR favorite season? We’ll break down the nominations for the International Opera Awards, and put a thumb on the scale for the audience choice Reader’s Award….you know there’s gotta be some advantage to being ...
[@ 4 min] Alright, this week…a listener encourages us to give you our picks for operas around the US this fall. INCLUDING San Francisco, dear listener...
[@ 23 min] Then…Musicologist, conductor, and vocal coach Will Crutchfield takes a Free Throw on ornamenting Bellini!
[@ 34 min] Plus, a friend of the show shares her story about the stigma of vocal injury.
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[@ 4 min] Alright, this week…OBS Season Eleven starts with a kickoff return touchdown! The legendary German countertenor Andreas Scholl goes Inside the Huddle to share advice for a long career, and to tell the story of making THAT recording. You’ll know which one.
[@ 31 min] Plus, we add a few extra minutes to the Two Minute Drill to catch you up on all the stories you missed, including the Met…in Saudi Arabia?
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[@ 1 min] Alright, this week…as the team gears up for OBS Season 11, we bring you some of the best of season 10, starting with a Free Throw from Sondra Radvanovsky on singing one of her quote unquote “EASIEST” roles.
[@ 12 min] Then, it’s George’s pick for his favorite interview of 2025. We go Inside the Huddle with stage director, author, and Detroit Opera Artistic Director Yuval Sharon.
[@ 32 min] And to round-o...
[@ 4 min] Alright, this week…Friend of the Show Kerriann Otaño goes Inside the Huddle...again! Vice President of Engagement for Opera Delaware, Otaño returns to share news about Delaware’s revolutionary studio artists program.
[@ 32 min] And as it’s our season finale, we’ll take a break from the Two-Minute Drill as all the news seems to be men behaving badly, or MAN bickering with a Russian soprano. Instead, we've bro...
[@ 5 min] Alright, this week…music critic Anne Midgette goes Inside the Huddle. As the co-author of the article that launched Classical Music’s #metoo movement in 2018 AND as the former music critic of the Washington Post, today’s guest is uniquely qualified to comment on just about everything we care about on this podcast. Next month, Anne Midgette is a guest speaker for the Jussi Bjorling Society’s webinar “The Myth of Park and B...
[@ 3 min] Alright, this week…Grammy-winning tenor Nicholas Phan takes a Free Throw on finally winning that Grammy on his fifth nomination, for his performance in OBS Hall of Famer Kaija Saariaho’s 'Adriana Mater.'
[@ 15 min] ...which gets us thinking about Grammy winning opera recordings. In Chalk Talk, we take a look at the history of the only Grammys category that matters, Best Opera Recordings. Which winners h...
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