[@4 min] Alright, this week…THE Klaus Mäkelä takes a Free Throw. That’s right folks. We’re the only opera podcast to get an exclusive with the phenom Finnish conductor – for a whole 45 seconds![@9 min] And since we’re taking a dip into the symphonic world with our new friend of the show Klaus Makela, stick around for the return of Spring Training f…

[@4 min] Alright, this week...friend of the show Andrew Jorgensen returns to take a Free Throw on the upcoming Opera Theatre of St Louis festival season. You’ll be shocked to find out which of the four productions he is looking forward to the most...[@16 min] And then…we exercise our opera snob muscles and discuss what makes an opera high art, like…

[@1 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Timothy Murray. The American baritone is having a breakout season which includes his debut at the Met and singing a title role at Opera Omaha this spring! Later this month, he brings his celebrated Don Giovanni to Opera Philadelphia... [@25 min] Then, we review the recording career of an ar…

[@4 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Timothy Murray. The American baritone is having a breakout season which includes his debut at the Met and singing a title role at Opera Omaha this spring! Later this month, he brings his celebrated Don Giovanni to Opera Philadelphia...[@29 min] And then…as classically trained church singers…

[@4 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Timothy Murray. The American baritone is having a breakout season which includes his debut at the Met and singing a title role at Opera Omaha this spring! Later this month, he brings his celebrated Don Giovanni to Opera Philadelphia... [@29 min] And then…as classically trained church singer…

[@4 min] Alright, this week...it’s the Final Four of our March Madness Summer Festival bracket! Who wins when England, France, and Germany dare to go against the US? [@33 min] Plus, in the "Two Minute Drill"…Breaking news as we record, season announcements, and the Kennedy Center…is still there. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/o…

[@2 min] Alright, this week...we narrow our March Madness of Summer Festivals down to the Final Four! Who can challenge Glyndebourne in the UK quarter? [@21 min] Plus, in the "Two Minute Drill"…Opera Theater St Louis is getting an extreme makeover, opera edition, and Brooklyn Academy of Music may be broke, but they’ve got Barrie Kosky! GET YOUR VOI…

[@3 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Yuval Sharon! The stage director, author, and administrator, who is famous for the parking lot Gotterdammerung and Backwards Boheme(™), is currently exploring artificial intelligence in his new concept for Cosi fan tutte. Sharon joins us to preview that upcoming production for Detroit Opera…

[@3 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Nathan Granner! The American tenor is set to star in a revised version of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s "The Shining" at Portland Opera, but we had to ask him about the opera "Balls." [@33 min] And then…In Home Team, Lyric Opera of Chicago announces their next season, which includes perf…

[@3 min] Alright, this week...we go Inside the Huddle with Dr. Lucy Caplan, author of a recently published history of a Golden Age in American classical music called "Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed America Opera." In addition to tantalizing us with all the operas by American composers that have never been heard in modern times,…

[@2 min] Alright, this week...THE Iestyn Davies takes a Free Throw on one of his signature role, Didymus in Handel’s Theodora. A role, incidentally, which will mark his debut with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque this weekend. And since Oliver loves Iestyn so much, we’ll revisit a favorite Inside the Huddle with the British countertenor from the OBS …

[@3 min] Alright, this week...Pene Pati takes a Free Throw on Rodolfo, the role which marks the star Samoan tenor’s debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago next month. As Rodolfo and Mimi are top two on the call sheet for La Boheme, we’ll handicap some of the commercial recordings of Puccini’s perennial people pleasing masterpiece. [@39 min] And then…Merid…

[@5 min] Alright...This week, we go Inside the Huddle with Elena Villalón! The Cuban-American soprano returns to OBS 6 years after she first joined after winning the Met Council auditions. Later this month, she makes her Detroit Opera debut in Handel’s "Rinaldo." [@36 min] And then…a Listener Mailbag on a song recital! Oliver, is this your doing? T…

[@4 min] This week, baritenor Michael Spyres goes Inside the Huddle to discuss his unique fach, but it’s 2025 and Beyonce won a grammy for best country album, so what even is fach? We’ll discuss a brief history of the baritenor, bel canto edition. [@32 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…Friend of the Show Karen Slack wins best vocal solo ,and it’…

[@6 min] Alright, this week…in advance of "The Puccini Heroines," an all-Puccini arias concert at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sondra Radvanovsky takes a Free Throw on the singing the role of Turandot. Compared to Norma and Aida, you may be surprised to hear that it's one of her easiest roles. [@18 min] And then…in Listener Mailbag, we have field report…

Alright, this week…we're recording on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so we're going Inside the Huddle with two Black divas... [@ 1 min] First up, it’s soprano Symone Harcum, the star of Opera Philadelphia’s upcoming production of The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne. [@ 26 min] Then, Jordan Pitts, the creator of New York City and Paris Grand Ope…

[@3 min] Alright, this week…New Year, New OBS! There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months and we have all your 2025 recommendations, resolutions, and redshirts. [@36 min] And then…legendary French conductor Marc Minkowski takes a free throw on the career of one of his longtime collaborators and favorite singers. You’ll have to stay tuned…

[@ 5 min] This week…we go inside the huddle with Givonna Joseph, the founder of Opera Creole, and soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams, the star of that company's upcoming world premiere of Edmond Dede’s "Morgiane," a collaboration with friend of the show Opera Lafayette. [@ 32 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…the prima of the Met’s new Aida was an …

[@ 5 min] This week…we go inside the huddle with Givonna Joseph, the founder of Opera Creole, and soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams, the star of that company's upcoming world premiere of Edmond Dede’s "Morgiane," a collaboration with friend of the show Opera Lafayette.[@ 32 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…the prima of the Met’s new Aida was an e…

Alright, this week…It’s the OBS year in review! From Beyoncé showing off her Italian Baroque chops to Arts Council England continuing to be the enemy of opera, to friend of the show Anthony Roth Costanzo being tapped as Opera Philadelphia’s new GD, to other friend of the show Benjamin Bernheim getting the ultimate OBS bump, 2024 certainly was…somet…

[@ 1 min] This week…for our annual Christmas episode, we’re going INSIDE THE CAROL. Taking a break from opera news, the OBS team wants to save you from tears, and give your heart away to someone special… [@ 23 min] Plus, keeping with the theme of magical births, a field report on the Met’s “Die Frau Ohne Schatten.” GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscor…

[@ 2 min] This week…we go inside the huddle with Key’mon Murrah. In advance of his upcoming Washington National Opera Marian Anderson Vocal Award recital, we catch up with the in-demand countertenor almost four years after he first became a Friend of the Show. [@ 26 min] Then, we take a break from the opera to discuss the CSO in this week’s listene…

[@ 2 min] This week, we’re recording on December 2nd, the 101st anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas. And to celebrate, we’ll go Inside the Huddle with Sophia Lambton, author of the new biography, "The Callas Imprint." [@ 30 min] Then, it’s a Monday Evening Quarterback on “Maria,” the film now in select theaters and coming to Netflix this month…

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! (Sorry, UK listeners). The OBS team is going to celebrate by taking a week off from the news and offering our thanks to artists in our industry who have striven to make this world a better place. GET YOUR VOICE HEARD operaboxscore.com facebook.com/obschi1 @operaboxscore IG operaboxscore…

[@ 2 min] This week, Frederica von Stade, a living legend, takes a Free Throw on the role of the Mother in Dead Man Walking and reveals the heartbreak of being a mother working in opera. [@ 16 min] Then…we go Inside the Huddle with tenor Gwilym Bowen, who is setting his voice to Christmas Oratorio and Messiah mode as we enter into the most magical …

[@ 2 min] This week, Frederica von Stade, a living legend, takes a Free Throw on the role of the Mother in Dead Man Walking and reveals the heartbreak of being a mother working in opera.[@ 16 min] Then…we go Inside the Huddle with tenor Gwilym Bowen, who is setting his voice to Christmas Oratorio and Messiah mode as we enter into the most magical s…

[@4 min] Later this month, Agnes Baltsa will celebrate her 80th birthday, and since her handlers won’t answer our interview request, we’ll offer you the next best thing and induct the grandiose Greek mezzo-soprano into the OBS hall of Fame. [@ 31 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’…So far there’s only one thing to look forward to in 2025: GRAMMY s…

Alright, this week…it’s the first week in November in America and the election is the only thing we can think about. We have no idea if America will still be a thing by the time you hear this…but we will try to continue the conversation about politics…I mean opera. Then…a free throw from bass Kenneth Kellogg who is set to make his Chicago debut in …