114 episodes

Opera for Everyone is a radio show and podcast that makes opera understandable, accessible, and enjoyable for all. Pat Wright hosts the show, inviting guest co-hosts to participate in the mission she and Keely Herron developed after lively discussions of operas they had enjoyed seeing together. Music soars. Epiphanies abound. Hilarity ensues.

The show airs Sundays from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. on 89.1 KHOL in Jackson, Wyoming.

Cover artwork by illustrator Rosie Brooks (www.rosiebrooks.com)

Opera For Everyone Opera for Everyone

    • Arts

Opera for Everyone is a radio show and podcast that makes opera understandable, accessible, and enjoyable for all. Pat Wright hosts the show, inviting guest co-hosts to participate in the mission she and Keely Herron developed after lively discussions of operas they had enjoyed seeing together. Music soars. Epiphanies abound. Hilarity ensues.

The show airs Sundays from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. on 89.1 KHOL in Jackson, Wyoming.

Cover artwork by illustrator Rosie Brooks (www.rosiebrooks.com)

    Ep. 116 Verdi's La Forza del Destino & Lisa Reagan's What We Need Is Here

    Ep. 116 Verdi's La Forza del Destino & Lisa Reagan's What We Need Is Here

    Where passion joins with music and poetry we find opera. In this sweet spot, we also find What We Need Is Here, the most recent project by accomplished musician and singer, Lisa Reagan. Lisa joins us to talk about creating an album of songs for classic poems that have been meaningful to her life.
    Lisa Reagan spent twenty years singing with the Washington National Opera and her first performance there was in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, an opera of epic scope and dramatic extremes. Join Pat, Kathleen and Lisa for a close look at this powerful opera and the varieties of human experience it explores.
    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen, with special guest Lisa Reagan
    For more on Lisa Reagan and her album What We Need Is Here, visit lisareagan.com
    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    • 2 hrs 5 min
    Ep. 115 Berg's Lulu & Erica Miner's Prelude to Murder

    Ep. 115 Berg's Lulu & Erica Miner's Prelude to Murder

    Two things never go out of fashion: opera and mystery.  In this episode, mystery writer and former opera violinist Erica Miner talks with us about her opera mystery series and Lulu, Berg’s high-body-count melodrama.  Lulu, which features prominently in Erica’s new novel, centers on a beautiful young woman whose admirers descend into obsession.  Join us for a fascinating discussion of the nuts and bolts of opera, how it has informed Erica’s writings, and a close look at Berg’s masterpiece.
    Erica Miner is the author of Prelude to Murder, the second book in the Julia Kogan Opera Mystery Series.  For more on Erica, visit ericaminer.com

    • 1 hr 58 min
    Ep. 114 Amahl and the Night Visitors

    Ep. 114 Amahl and the Night Visitors

    In Amahl and the Night Visitors, a young boy and his mother unexpectedly play host to the Magi on their way to meet the infant Jesus.  Originally written for television, this opera uniquely bridges the ancient and modern in a heartfelt exploration of the meaning of hospitality.
    In the second half of this episode, we are joined by Grant to talk about the role of Epiphany in the Christmas story, and enjoy some of the more beloved songs associated with the timeless story of the Magi.
    Hosted by Pat and Kathleen.
    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    • 1 hr 58 min
    Ep. 113 L’Italiana in Algeri by Rossini

    Ep. 113 L’Italiana in Algeri by Rossini

    By turns funny, serious, and seriously funny, L’Italiana in Algeri is a fascinating assembly of romantic tropes: a spurned wife, a shipwrecked lover, a pirate king, and a daring escape.  At the same time, it deals with serious themes of agency, power, and silence.  Set in a world that is both alien and familiar, this opera has something to say to all of us.
    Guest co-host Emily Cohen, executive director of Opera For Everyone’s home station KHOL, joins us for an opera in which she once performed!

    • 1 hr 58 min
    Ep. 112 The Egyptian Helen by Richard Strauss

    Ep. 112 The Egyptian Helen by Richard Strauss

    “The face that launched a thousand ships.”
    Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world, has a problem.  Her husband plans to kill her, but she just wants him to fall in love with her again.  She may just need a miracle to pull it off, but if anyone can do it, she can.  Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal aimed for a light and comic operetta with Die Ägyptische Helena, but delivered a profound and dramatic work of art about the road to repairing broken relationships.
    Hosted by Pat, Kathleen, and Grant
    For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De Wille, visit Constructive Criticism on Substack.

    • 2 hrs 9 min
    Ep. 111 Tosca by Giacomo Puccini

    Ep. 111 Tosca by Giacomo Puccini

    One of the top ten most-performed operas in the world, Puccini’s Tosca is considered by some the greatest of operas.  A painter provides refuge for an escaped political prisoner, which begins a chain of events that starts with petty jealousy and ends in a death leap.  Things spiral further and further out of control in this epic confrontation of tyranny and passion, set in the tempestuous era of the Napoleonic Wars.  Join Pat and Greg for an in-depth discussion of the story and the power of this masterpiece.

    • 1 hr 58 min

Top Podcasts In Arts

Na svoji strani
Ajda Rotar Urankar
Sladko-kisli svet
Gostilna Repovž
Glave
Boštjan Gorenc Pižama in Anže Tomić
S kitkom v svet pravljic
Knjižnica Ivana Tavčarja Škofja Loka
Confessions by Anastazia
Anastazia Dupee
Books Unbound
Ariel Bissett & Raeleen Lemay

You Might Also Like

Aria Code
WQXR & The Metropolitan Opera
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
Joshua Weilerstein
Classical Breakdown
WETA Classical
Met Opera Guild Podcast
Metropolitan Opera Guild
OPERA FOR ALL -- Octavio Choy and Peter Shimkin
Society Bytes Radio
In Our Time
BBC Radio 4