About this episode
This episode explores Jake Heggie’s opera Moby-Dick, discussing its themes and literary adaptation with guest Candice M. Kelsey.
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
People in this episode
Host: Pat
Guest: Candice M. Kelsey
Topics covered
- opera
- adaptation
- literature
- obsession
- friendship
- 21st-century
- seafaring
Keywords
- Moby-Dick
- Jake Heggie
- opera
- adaptation
- Melville
- obsession
- friendship
- Pequod
- libretto
- musical score
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Moby-Dick
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