Monday
May202013
OperaNow! #187: I Thought Doug Dotson Was A Girl
Monday, May 20, 2013 at 7:55AM 
James Levine has returned...Is Lyric Opera Chicago's Oklahoma OK? (L-A-H-O-M-A)...Chicago Opera Theater fills season with adventurous pieces you've never heard of...San Fran couple hold fund raiser for implants.This week Oliver is back to his old tricks dressin' up as your sister, tryin' to steal your man.
This week features Michael, The OC, Doug Dodson and (maybe) Jenny Rivera.
Reader Comments (81)
So, we're the top post at reddit.com/r/classicalmusic right now. Just FYI :-)
And reddit user scumptiouscakes has weighed in in support of your doing an AMA -- how can you resist that name?
OK, I'll confess: I go back and forth on the Drop the Needle thing. It's cute, but it leaves you all no chance to discuss the characteristics of each singer since it's supposed to be a quiz. And then the following week, there's no time to go back over the singers of the previous week because you have to keep moving to a new whole set of stories.
I love the discussion from everyone on Handel's aria. That's one of my favorite arias and one of the very first in English that I was able to enjoy from the get-go. DiDonato was the singer I first heard sing this, so hers remains my favorite interpreter. Horne, though: Wow. I'm going right out to the Web to download that recording.
Oops. "DiDonato was the singer I first heard sing this, so hers remains my favorite interpretation."
Hey guys, just wanted to say that I found this podcast on Reddit. You should post links to your podcast over there each week! Glad to have found you, this is my kind of thing.
BTW, Michael Rice is a fantastic ringmaster, but he is ABSOLUTELY WRONG about the podcast running its course. As long as operas are being performed, as long as audience members have ears, as long as all 4 of you are still breathing and have OPINIONS, then OperaNow Podcast! has a place in this world.
...what's an AMA?
American Medical Association.
Very funny Michael. Doug, on reddit an "AMA" is an "Ask Me Anything". The top 3 in reddit history were done by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Here's a list from the general-interest subreddit.
I was thinking you guys might do yours in the opera subreddit (duh!), which is convenient because I'm one of the moderators there so I can set it up myself.
I have never used Reddit. You learn something new everyday.
I would be totally bummed out if the show ended, but I can understand if you feel like you're running out if steam or like it's not rewarding for you guys anymore.
I would absolutely be intrigued to know where the figures come from, as it was around six months ago that apple totally fucked up their podcast app, taking it out of iTunes and turning it into a trrrible, bug-ridden mess. I use a totally seperate app (downcast) to access the show now, I'm sure many others do too...could that change how the numbers look?
I really do hope you continue with the show, it's taught me a lot as a (not so) young singer and been very entertaining. Thanks guys.
Thanks for the kind (and unkind) words, everyone. And thanks SQL for the reddit post. Always good to get reddited. we wil address an AMA next ep (as well as other things!)
If you guys need more listeners, the solution is over there burping in the corner.
Baby pictures posted alongside each new episode.
And it doesn't even have to be your actual baby. Use Clip Art baby - nobody will ever know! And if you photoshop a cat into those pictures, the number of hits will be through the roof.
C'mon -- you know how the internet works -- it's not rocket surgery .
So I am getting my masters at SFCM and love that you guys gave that story some attention. She is definitely a beautiful girl... AND I died laughing the first time I heard Ruby's name.... glad you guys found it as amusing.
ANYWHOOOOOO
Firstly about this episode:
Jenny you are my favorite female cohost OperaNow has had... besides Doug Do[t]son that is.
MR. OC as someone who does not particularly care for Handel I found the recordings wonderful. I have never listened much to Marylin Horne besides her DVD od Semiramide but I think her renditions of Ino/Juno are awesome. I would agree with you that the first two singers of Drop the Needle seem to be imitating her sound. Although I don't know many baroque Mezzos i'm glad to say I at least got Joyce and Vivica haha. As for the next opera, I would personally love to hear you talk about Onegin. That's a little selfish because I will be singing Act 1 of Oneging this summer and would love to hear your thoughts on the work/recordings/performers.
I think it's awkward the COT would do a musical but then go on to cast local musical theater talent. That seems like a definite waste of an opportunity. SF Opera scheduled Show Boat in their next season headed by Patricia Racette and Nathan Gunn. I'm excited to see what comes of it.
OK now for the larger rant:
It would be a real shame for you guys to stop this podcast now. I first started listening around the time Doug Dodson joined. I was 18 and just starting my undergraduate. I had just decided to follow an operatic career as opposed to a musical theater career. You all helped teach me about young artist programs. You are part of the reason why I try to listen so much to older recordings. You have brought so much joy over the years (I will never forget Doug Dodson's short interpretation of Song to the moon, I'm giggling typing this). When I was concerned about rep my voice teacher was giving me I wrote to Oliver and he showed me I had reason to be concerned. He even went as far as to listen to some of my recordings and give me advice. Michael, I have never been more excited that to hear you say that you think Fanciulla del West is Puccini's most underrated work. I admit, I am one of those listener's that has not been listening lately... but that is only because life has gotten a bit crazy the last couple of years. I absolutely love this podcast and always tell my friends about it. Oliver's Corner is so incredibly informative. It opens me to new singers, different recordings, and repertoire I was not fond of before. The passion you all have for the art form and the lightness with which you share it is so incredibly appreciated. I have learned so much from you al and I would just hate for it not to be available to myself or other young singers struggling to make heads or tails of this world.
This podcast has had many ups and downs. From sad (drunken?) solo episodes mourning the state of the show to the landmark 100th episode to this 8 minute postlude questioning the future. I hope, like in the past, it continues. If not, thank you all for keeping us entertained, catching us up with all the important news (I would have never seen Debby Voigt confronting her little black dress or known about Alagna and toothless Gheorghiu craziness), and most importantly educating by sharing your passions. Good luck! (I should probably read this and edit but I'm gonna go with the rant feel. Sorry for any redundancies or idiocies).
I have listened to every episode. I have never commented because every time you read a letter on the air you either mock or sexually harass the writer. But I do love the show. Nobody else does what you're doing, and nobody else will do it when you're gone.
Well that's not true. Remember the guy who listens while he takes his daughter for a walk?
I agree with everyone's positive comments. As a late convert to opera, I NEED this podcast. One reason for a dropoff in listeners may be Apple's lousy podcast app, which I've replaced with Downcast. I tried to go to iTunes using my phone to do a rating, and I can't do it through the iTunes app.
they changed the itunes app a while ago, but it works fine for me. i don't know how the app change has caused a dropoff in listeners. it's strange. i don't know the exact numbers, but to me it seems like people have always listened to the show, but they just don't always have the time to rate and comment.
If you want to save the show, keep the best, get rid of the rest.
This show would be a winner if it was Oliver and Jennifer only.
Me, I or Me You?
Long-time listener first-time caller here (although I did review you on iTunes this year)... I just wanted to thank you all for your hard work that you do FOR FREE for all of your listeners, even if there may be fewer of us than before. You deliver a completely unique experience; there is nothing else like it out there. I listen every week and laugh out loud to myself while making supper and waiting for my wife to come home from the evening shift. Sometimes I cry too, like when Oliver played Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's "Cara Speme." As a Gen X opera-lover without many outlets to talk about my passion with like-minded folks, OperaNow podcast is a very valuable moment of my week. Whether you go out in a blaze of glory at #200 or continue until baby Jackson is a teenager, I just wanted to thank you for your gift to me and others like me.
Just heard 188. OC said that his nemesis C3PO might be the same guy as "our friend in Venice". It isn't. Sorry. I'd have never written all that.
He was kidding. :)
And our friend in Venice doesn't need Ambien to go on a rant.
Hopefully he knows that I love him no matter how much I may disappoint him.
Now you're just being a prick
Anytime I "go on a rant" it's about opera and singing because that's what I'm passionate about. But I wouldn't give long instructions about how you should do your show, because it's your show.
Yikes, turned my head for a week and look what has happened. I thought Michael was still away in Europe...haven't listened to this episode or the subsequent one but I get the feeling some dramatic announcement must have been made about ending the podcast. It is soooo selfish of me, but I think you know it would be HUGELY missed. From a quick glance at all your supporters above, you hopefully realize how much Opera Now means to all of us. And it's true, there aren't many good opera podcasts out there. Michael Mayes's was fantastic, but that seems to have wound down. And Charles Reid's are enjoyable, but he took a long hiatus (and I see has just returned after a year or so). As someone who hosts a podcast for my day job with the COC, I know the effort it takes, and it's harder if you're doing it in addition to your full-time work. BUT, you really are the voice of opera today - not the fusty old voices of complaining old opera queens (though that can be fun in doses), but a true breath of fresh air. Anyway, you catch my drift. Now, very excited to listen to two new episodes - I've missed it!
Hi Guys,
I'm listening! Every week. Just posted on my Facebook page asking my friends to check you out. Left a review on iTunes. And sent a contribution via PayPal. Love you guys, love the podcast. Keep it up! (In every sense of the word).
Steve
I have stopped listening for about the last five episodes and just checked in today. The reason I've stopped listening is because you spend so much time talking about yourselves and not enough talking about opera. It's your podcast and so you can do with it what you want. But if I wanted to listen to three guys make juvenile sex jokes laced with vulgarity I'm sure I can find it plenty of places. What I can't seem to find is someone who is having fun with opera and yet doesn't have the mind of the junior high male. Sorry guys, but I'm giving up. Have a good life.
Lates
I'm a little behind with the podcasts, but want to throw in my opinion even though I know things have changed and that I shouldn't panic like I did when I first heard this episode.
I'd be crushed if you stopped the show. Please don't change anything, just keep doing what you have been. I don't know if you realize that for some of us who have to live out in the middle of nowhere that this is the only interesting interaction we get when it comes to an art form we love, so please continue to be my opera island in the middle of the Nascar ocean.
Thanks guys! (And Jenny.)
I was really hoping you were actually Geddy Lee. by kashish