Opera For Everyone

Opera for Everyone

Opera for Everyone is a radio show and podcast that makes opera understandable, accessible, and enjoyable for all. Pat Wright hosts the show, inviting guest co-hosts to participate in the mission she and Keely Herron developed after lively discussions of operas they had enjoyed seeing together. Music soars. Epiphanies abound. Hilarity ensues. The show airs Sundays from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. on 89.1 KHOL in Jackson, Wyoming. Cover artwork by illustrator Rosie Brooks (www.rosiebrooks.com)

  • 2 hours 1 minute
    Ep. 124 Giulietta e Romeo by Nicola Vaccai

    A great story is one that we are never done with, and there are few stories in human history with as many retellings and reimaginings as the epic tale of Romeo and Juliet.  Nicola Vaccai wrote this 1825 opera based not on the Elizabethan play, but on the source materials from which Shakespeare drew.  Here, the Montagues and Capulets are not merely feuding families, but armies waging war as a part of the titanic power struggles between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy that wracked medieval and renaissance Italy.  However, the heart of the story remains the doomed romance between young lovers caught in a maelstrom beyond their control.  

    This is the second in a (non-contiguous) series in which Pat and Kathleen closely consider the Romeo and Juliet story in opera.  For an episode that presents an operatic take on Shakespeare’s play about these famous lovers, please listen to Opera for Everyone, Episode 120.

    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen

    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    14 November 2024, 3:21 am
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 123 Mozart's Idomeneo

    Trying desperately to return home alive from the Trojan War, King Idomeneo makes a terrible promise to the sea god from the deck of his storm-ravaged ship.  The consequence of his promise is worse than he could imagine, and only after many twists does he achingly find his way to peace.  The emotional depth of the characters of Idomeneo gives Mozart ample opportunity to demonstrate his compositional powers in this, his first fully mature and unquestionably successful opera.

    Hosted by Pat, with guest co-host Gerald Malone

    Gerald Malone is the Opera Critic of the UK online current affairs and cultural publication, ReactionLife.

    6 October 2024, 6:36 pm
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 122 Zoroastre by Jean-Philippe Rameau

    It’s a battle for the fate of the universe as the Dark Side plots, schemes, and fights to gain dominance over the Light Side. 

    Though this opera predates Mozart’s The Magic Flute by several decades, you may find echoes here of Mozart’s beloved work, as it is also heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment and the principles of Freemasonry.  Jean-Philippe Rameau was the pre-eminent French composer of his day, and close with thinkers such as Voltaire.  Rameau’s librettist for Zoroastre, Louis de Cahusac, was the secretary for the Grand Master of the Freemasonry’s Grand Lodge in Paris. 

    Join Pat and Grant for a deep dive into this grand, mythical story’s cosmic stakes and spiritual resonances.

    20 September 2024, 6:41 pm
  • 2 hours 2 minutes
    Ep. 121 Mozart's Die Zauberflöte

    Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”) is, by any measure, one of the most popular, successful, and well-known operas ever written, delighting adults and children alike.  Yet experiencing Mozart’s The Magic Flute has left countless opera-goers reflecting contentedly on the sumptuous musical feast, but scratching their heads over the plot and characters.  With the help of conductor Ben Manis, Opera for Everyone takes a close look at both Mozart’s musical genius and a narrative journey into a fantastical and dreamlike world.  In this realm of magic and incarnate forces, we try to discover what can be understood, and what must simply be felt and experienced.

    Hosted by Pat and Conductor Ben Manis

    11 August 2024, 3:36 pm
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 120 Gounod's Roméo et Juliette

    Of all the love stories ever told, none quite compare to the enduring power of Romeo and Juliet.

    Over four centuries ago, English playwright William Shakespeare crafted a timeless story harnessing both the powers of profound love and deep hatred, and his tale of “star-crossed lovers” has become an inspiration to countless artists.  Two and a half centuries later, French composer Charles Gounod and his librettists took Shakespeare’s play as a starting point, and crafted it into an exquisitely beautiful and heart-rending opera.  Join us for an in-depth discussion of how this story plays out as a French grand opéra.

    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen

    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    21 July 2024, 5:23 pm
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 119 Zoraida di Granata by Donizetti

    An unscrupulous king pressures a woman to marry him.  She resists, knowing her heart belongs to the man who truly loves her, the chief general in the king’s army. Into this love-triangle, toss in a scheming underling of the king, a sympathetic maid of the woman, a devoted best friend of the general, and you have all the ingredients for a gripping story.  Enhance the whole tale with a magnificent score, and you have a delightful opera, and, in fact, the first fully successful opera by the most prolific composer of the Bel Canto style, Gaetano Donizetti.  Though Donizetti composed 70 operas, only a small number of those are regularly staged these days.  We invite you to meet Zoraida di Granata, and enjoy an early work from a beloved composer.

    Hosted by Pat and Janet

    17 June 2024, 12:24 am
  • 5 minutes 52 seconds
    OFE Presents a Brief Conversation with KHOL's Executive Director

    KHOL in Jackson WY is Opera for Everyone’s home radio station, and Wyoming’s only community radio station.  If you have ever wanted to support Opera for Everyone, please consider supporting KHOL at 891KHOL.org/donate.

    June 15 marks the beginning of KHOL’s summer membership drive.

    Thank you everyone!

    16 June 2024, 2:57 am
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 118 A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten

    “The course of true love never did run smooth.”  Shakespeare’s iconic "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" gives us some of the Bard’s most memorable (and ridiculous) characters and situations.  Benjamin Britten, together with his partner Peter Pears, so appreciated the merits of Shakespeare’s play that they faithfully adapted the script into a libretto for Britten’s 1960 opera of the same name.

    The good-natured story shifts among fairy and human characters and their antics on a midsummer night.  Observing the chaos, Puck, puckish henchman to the fairy king, exclaims, “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” True enough, but there’s plenty of entertaining foolishness here from mortals and fairies alike. And, after all, doesn’t love make fools of us all?

    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen

    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

     

    19 May 2024, 9:58 pm
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 117 The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell

    Was it only a dream?

    Baroque composer Henry Purcell was on his way to establishing a national operatic tradition based on the dramatic and musical traditions of the English, when, alas, his life was cut short after just 36 years.  Join us as we explore Purcell’s musically and emotionally rich “The Fairy Queen,” a delightful twist on the Bard’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare was content to end his tale with ambiguity, and so must we content ourselves with what Purcell has given us, and not indulge in the fantasy of what might have been had he enjoyed additional years composing.

    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen

    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    15 April 2024, 1:03 am
  • 2 hours 5 minutes
    Ep. 116 Verdi's La Forza del Destino & Lisa Reagan's What We Need Is Here

    Where passion joins with music and poetry we find opera. In this sweet spot, we also find What We Need Is Here, the most recent project by accomplished musician and singer, Lisa Reagan. Lisa joins us to talk about creating an album of songs for classic poems that have been meaningful to her life.

    Lisa Reagan spent twenty years singing with the Washington National Opera and her first performance there was in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, an opera of epic scope and dramatic extremes. Join Pat, Kathleen and Lisa for a close look at this powerful opera and the varieties of human experience it explores.

    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen, with special guest Lisa Reagan

    For more on Lisa Reagan and her album What We Need Is Here, visit lisareagan.com

    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    26 February 2024, 8:02 pm
  • 1 hour 58 minutes
    Ep. 115 Berg's Lulu & Erica Miner's Prelude to Murder

    Two things never go out of fashion: opera and mystery.  In this episode, mystery writer and former opera violinist Erica Miner talks with us about her opera mystery series and Lulu, Berg’s high-body-count melodrama.  Lulu, which features prominently in Erica’s new novel, centers on a beautiful young woman whose admirers descend into obsession.  Join us for a fascinating discussion of the nuts and bolts of opera, how it has informed Erica’s writings, and a close look at Berg’s masterpiece.

    Erica Miner is the author of Prelude to Murder, the second book in the Julia Kogan Opera Mystery Series.  For more on Erica, visit ericaminer.com

    22 January 2024, 4:31 pm
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