Opera For Everyone

All hands on deck! This episode of Opera for Everyone dives headlong into a leviathan of 21st-century opera: Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick (2010). Adapted from Melville’s classic American novel, this seafaring drama is a gripping operatic meditation on obsession, authority, and the power of friendship. With Gene Scheer’s cinematic libretto and Heggie’s muscular score, the opera captures both the immensity of the sea and the intensity of life aboard the Pequod. Joining Pat on this voyage is guest Candice M. Kelsey, educator, poet, and Melville enthusiast, who brings a literary lens to the opera’s adaptation. Batten down the hatches and sail with us into operatic waters where the whale is white, the questions are vast, and the music is epic. For more on Candice Kelsey visit candicemkelseypoet.com

Richard Wagner’s first truly successful opera, set in medieval Rome, sees a young nobleman in love with a young plebeian woman. While this might sound like it’s going to be an operatic love story, it’s quite a different thing entirely: Grand Opera, Wagner-style. Based on a controversial and visionary historical figure who became a footnote, but aspired to change the face of history, it has soaring music, but this opera is less concerned with romance than the fortunes of a leader trying to accumulate power in order to bring peace and equality to his people. Hosted by Pat, Kathleen, and Grant For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

Can an opera, that most complex of art forms, take you back to childhood? Unlikely though it might seem, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (“The Child and the Enchantments”) does just that through the talents of composer Maurice Ravel and writer Colette. This one-act opera, fantastical though it is, can transport you to all-too-real, seemingly lost memories. Over the course of the story, our nameless child protagonist wrestles with his powerlessness and power, responsibility and dependence, piteousness and pity. Join host Pat with Erica Miner, the mystery writer, lecturer and former Met Opera violinist, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of French composer Maurice Ravel on this episode of Opera for Everyone. For more on Erica Miner, visit ericaminer.com

King Arthur stands astride the intersection of history, myth, legend, and politics. In every age of the history of Britain, he is reinterpreted for new audiences and new purposes. When composer Henry Purcell and poet-librettist John Dryden set out to write their opera about Arthur, they did so following a century in which England had seen monarchs rise, fall, be beheaded, exiled, returned in triumph, and driven out in disgrace. King Arthur takes place not in Camelot, but in a world of clashing cultures and ideals. Arthur finds his Britons beset by Saxon invaders, but after his victory, he is able to lead as both peoples transition from fighting one another, to become a stronger people together. Join us for a close look at this fascinating work or art, and enjoy (in English, of course!) Dryden’s poetry and Purcell’s rich and tuneful music. Hosted by Pat with guest co-host Gerald Malone. Gerald Malone’s website, TheRestIsOpera.com is brimming with commentary on opera productions that he has seen around the world, and “scuttlebutt” about opera from a suspiciously well-informed little dog. Gerald Malone is also the Opera Critic of ReactionLife, a UK-based online current affairs and cultural publication.

The young Aida loves the dashing military commander Radamès, and he adores her with a burning passion.Their mutual love is, however, somewhat complicated by the fact that Aida is a slave, enslaved by a princess who is equally smitten with the heroic warrior. Further complicating matters, Radamès’ military renown is founded on successfully prosecuting a war against Aida’s people. In this violent clash of the personal and political, Aida triumphs in her quest to be together “ever after” with Radamès, but certainly not in the way they had hoped. Join us this episode to marvel at the spectacle and scale of Giuseppe Verdi’s enduringly popular epic opera, Aida. Hosted by Pat with guest co-host Gerald Malone. Gerald Malone’s website, TheRestIsOpera.com is brimming with commentary on opera productions that he has seen around the world, and “scuttlebutt” about opera from a suspiciously well-informed canine. Gerald Malone is also the Opera Critic of ReactionLife, a UK-based online current affairs and cultural publication.

Once upon a time, there was a heroic knight, the greatest of Charlamagne’s famed paladins, and his name was Orlando (or Roland, depending on whom you ask.) Among his many heroic deeds and great journeys was this: a quest to a magical isle to abduct the headstrong princess Angelica and steal the ashes of Melin (yes, that Merlin). As his failure to win Angelica’s heart leads him down the path to madness, we must ask: is there hope for this broken hero after all? Antonio Vivaldi, famed composer of The Four Seasons, is not widely known for his operas, however, he composed between 70 and 100 in his lifetime. Join us for a discussion of this treasure of Baroque opera. Hosted by Pat and Jeff Counts (General Manager of the Grand Teton Music Festival, and KHOL’s film critic) Grand Teton Music Festival

What can one woman do, when set against the entire world? Quite a lot, if she happens to be the sorceress Medea. This French Baroque opera written by Marc Antoine Charpentier takes on the ancient tale of Medea’s struggle to find a place for herself in the world of mythic Greece’s heroes and kingdoms, which eventually descends into fire, chaos, and death. Hosted by Pat, with guest host Petria Fossel

Ill-fated lovers caught up in a world incapable of supporting love not sanctioned by officialdom… it’s a story for the ages. Join Pat and Kathleen for their third look at the Romeo and Juliet story in operatic form, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, by bel canto master, Vincenzo Bellini. If you haven’t already, we invite you to listen to Episode 120 on Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and Episode 124 on Nicola Vaccai’s Giulietta e Romeo. Hosted by Pat and Kathleen For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

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.

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.

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.

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!