Every Voice with Terrance McKnight

“Every Voice with Terrance McKnight” spotlights the diverse stories and perspectives that reflect the whole of the classical music experience. In this radio special of the final chapter in the season, we discuss Mozart’s “Abduction from the Seraglio” and ask big questions about the future of opera.

In this radio special of “Every Voice,” Terrance McKnight turns toGiuseppe Verdi’s “Otello” and how this centuries-old story shapes today’s narratives around Black success.

With troubled origins, opera has often reduced people of African descent to racist stereotypes. Can this art form find its place in a world where many are striving for inclusivity and beauty?

Mozart socialized with Black visionaries and drafted the abolitionist opera “Zaide.” But when it came to making a profit, “Abduction from the Seraglio” subjected enslaved characters to the same brutal realities inflicted on enslaved people across the world in the late eighteenth century. .

Giuseppe Verdi's “Aida” depicts an Africa with Ethiopians in chains. In reality, that was an imperialist dream unrealized by Egyptian Khedive Ismail Pasha and the American Confederates that colluded with him.

Joined by the celebrated bass baritone Sir Willard White as the King of Egypt and soprano Angela Brown as Aida - hear from the African characters of “Aida” in their own voices.

With such an emphasis on Otello’s flaws, how is it that Desdemona fell in love? In her play “Desdemona,” the writer Toni Morrison reimagines the love story between Otello and Desdemona, bringing to light their connections to Africa which are so often overlooked and underplayed on stages around the world.

Otello was a celebrated war hero and general in the Venetian army. But as a free Black man with power, he couldn’t escape the myth that Black manhood is something to be feared and controlled.

The use of blackface is a dying trend, but it was fundamental to one of the most popular operas of all time, Mozart's hit eighteenth century comedic opera, “The Magic Flute.“ Over the last few decades a number of opera companies have been working to create alternate versions of this piece, all of them attempting to craft essential messages relevant to our society; we find out how.

Whether you're a princess, a prince, or a prison guard, there is a desire to be seen. In Mozart's “The Magic Flute,” this basic human need for connection becomes a joke in someone who's seen as less than.

“Every Voice with Terrance McKnight” is a show that spotlights the vibrant stories and perspectives that reflect the whole of the American musical experience.