Classical 101 Podcasts

The Metropolitan Opera present L'amour de Loin (Love from Afar) live in HD from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York to movie theaters worldwide on Saturday, December 10 at 1:00 PM. This is the Met premiere of Saariaho's opera, which has become one of the most popular musical works of the 21st century, and is the first opera composed by a woman to be staged at the Met in 113 years. 

The Metropolitan Opera presents Mozart's Don Giovanni, live in HD in movie theaters worldwide on Saturday, October 22nd at 1:00 PM. 

The Metropolitan Opera begins a new season of live in HD transmissions from the Met stage in New York to cinemas worldwide with their new production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Saturday October 8th at noon.

Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera for the opening of the new opera house at Lincoln Center in 1966. The opera's world premiere, fifty years ago, was reviled by the newspapers and judging from the opening night broadcast, enjoyed by the audience. 

A previous episode of The Mozart Minute saw the 14-year-old Mozart composing his opera Mitridate, rè di Ponto on commission and for performance in Milan amid all manner of envy and intrigue. How Wolfgang the boy wonder secured a commission for such a large work at such a tender age is a story in its own right.

David Thomas is principal clarinetist with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He usually performs in concert halls. But recently, he gave a house concert in the east Columbus home of two of his associates.

One of the most satisfying aspects of a good concert can be the visceral impact of seeing other everyday people, some of whom you personally know, perform onstage. It sounds so simple, but the mystique of the performer can often obscure the empathy and sincerity of their performance.

The Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble, aka CODE, does a fantastic job of stripping away the affectations that keep listeners at bay while providing very new and exciting musical experiences. In essence, they know how to keep it real.

What do a baby and a new musical work have in common? Flutist and mezzo-soprano Lindsey Goodman can tell you.

 The collaboration between composer Richard Strauss (1865-1949) and librettist Hugo von Hofmansthal (1874-1929) produced the last great run of German language operas,  Der Rosenkavalier , Ariadne auf Naxos and Arabella among them.Work between them began not with comedy, nor with domestic drama or fairy tales. All of that came later. Work between them began with Greek tragedy, Sophocles Electra.

The wonderful Antoine Clark is a Columbus based clarinetist, teacher and conductor. Antoine recently took some time out of a ferociously busy schedule to help me with a series of podcasts on African-American conductors.

The Metropolitan Opera presents Donizetti's Roberto Devereux live in HD, beamed into movie theaters worldwide on Saturday, April 16, 2016. This is the Met's first production of Roberto Devereux, and stars Sondra Radvanovsky as Elizabeth I and Matthew Polenzani as Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.

During Mozart’s life, many a pet dog and even a pet bird wagged and flapped their way into the composer’s heart – and, it seems, into his music, as well.

If you've followed The Mozart Minute, then you know that Mozart's stay in Paris was pretty much a flop. He had hoped to establish himself as a composer in Europe’s musical capital, but that didn't happen. And in at least one incident, envy and petty rivalry seem to have kept one of Mozart’s new works from being premiered on a major Parisian concert series.

After being sacked by the Archbishop of Salzburg Hieronymous von Colloredo, Mozart held his erstwhile employer in notoriously intense disregard. His disdain was so intense, in fact, that even discussing an improvised performance of some variations (which possibly became the variations K. 359, 360, or 352) at a concert for the Archbishop was enough to set Mozart off.

Here's another in a series of podcasts on the lives and careers of African-American conductors.