OperaNow! #209: Guess Who's In This Opera?...FOOD!

Amateur archaeologist discovers Roman-era German treasure linked to Wagnerian Nibelung legend...The Hymens are back!...Lyric Opera Appoints Ethnic Ambassadors to the city of Chicago (they are free to wreak havoc across the city having possible diplomatic immunity)...City Opera family celebrate what would have been the 70th Anniversary.

Oliver's Corner is taking requests for his last segment on Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Plus Guess Who Died?

This week features Michael, The OC, Douog Dodson and Jenny Rivera.

Comments

[Molly]

So the question is... why hasn't the Placido/Jenny selfie been shared with the world?

[Corinne]

The end of Midsummer seems perfect for educational purposes! What stands in the way of using it? I'm assuming copyright issues make live performances difficult, but send one young artist with a DVD to talk about opera history. That and creating an original opera will suck in the yunglings.

[zach]

i also saw billy budd last weekend. but it was opening night at los angeles opera not bam. it was not something i planned or was looking forward to. i just purchased a discount ticket, which happened to be in the third row. overall, i actually enjoyed it more than i thought it would. i went to the opera with very low expectations because i remember being bored when oliver's corner covered billy budd.

[The OC]

Zach,

I am glad that Britten succeeds, even when I don't.

[Edward]

Hey Oliver, I always get a little too excited when you start talking about Kunst vs Stimme. Do you consider the two discrete, or the continuum? and if it is continuous, where is the optimal position on the spectrum?

I almost feel that I need to be your ultimate fan-guy and create a catalogue of Oliver's corners, and then you could refer to them by the Ed numbers.

[Clement]

Great episode! Always great to have Jenny on the show. I am always a big fan of Oliver's corner but it really adds to it when Doug, Mike or Jenny chime in like they did this time! Oliver you should prepare a few pointed questions that they won't be able to escape, like I do with my apathetic undergrads ;)

[TDS]

Great episode, love Britten and I always love Oliver's Corner. Podcasts on my iPod come and go but Opera Now is a permanent fixture, and has been for years! Keep it up guys - and Jenny :-) thanks for all you do!

[zach]

the use of cis/trans to describe gender is something i haven't heard of until now. i am familiar with cis/trans isomerism in organic chemisty. in chemistry cis/trans actually makes sense because it is used to describe the positional of functional groups on molecules that are mirror images of each other. for a cis isomer the functional groups are on the "same side" and for a trans isomer the functional groups are on the "opposite" side.

but in any other sense the use the cis/trans doesn't make any sense. for example, a cis-male is a male on the "same side"?

[Doug D.]

He's on the same side he started on; he hasn't crossed over to another side. I don't invent the terms, I just use them as is appropriate! ;)