Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes.

Today’s guests are Daisy Evans and the team behind Silent Opera, who talk about their new production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at Trinty Buoy Wharf in Docklands which involves wearing headphones and experiencing opera in a rather intimate fashion, not unlike a silent disco. Plus the continued fascination with the Orpheus myth and if opera audiences really are getting younger.

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http://www.silentopera.co.uk

Originally broadcast on 24th January 2013.

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Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes.

Today, since it’s the new year, he looks at resurrection and revitalisation, playing music by Handel, Bellini, Mahler and Beethoven in which heroes are discovered alive, lovers are tragically fooled by sleeping potions and even the greatest of composers learn the truth of their own mortality.

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Originally broadcast on 17th January 2013

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Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable, magic, lust, comedy.

On today’s show, since it’s very nearly Christmas, he is playing the entirety of Menotti’s Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors! This humorous and moving classic was written for American television in the 1950s and tells the story of Amahl, a young boy who delights in telling lies, and his encounter with three bizarre kings who knock on his door one night whilst following a star ‘as big as a window’ in the night sky.

Originally broadcast on 20th December 2012

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The Opera Hour_series 2 - episode 12 [ 1:00:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable, magic, lust, comedy.

On today’s show it’s Christmas! What do The Three Tenors, Joni Mitchell, The Sixteen, Benjamin Britten, Paul Hillier, Diana Ross, Judy Garland and Alec Guiness all have in common? They’re all on The Opera Hour Christmas Special of course!

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Originally broadcast on 13th December 2012

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Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable, magic, lust, comedy.
On today’s show we are joined in the studio by the world-class mezzo-soprano Christine Rice who’ll be talking to us about dressing up as a man, being Bluebeard’s newest ill-fated wife and being half-sister to the murderous Minotaur.

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Originally broadcast on 6th December 2012

The Opera Hour_series 2 - episode 10 - 20121206 [ 1:00:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable, magic, lust, comedy.

On today’s show he is joined by the soprano Allison Bell who’ll be taking about her upcoming performance of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the BBC Concert Orchestra on Monday and about some of her critically acclaimed roles, including singing Ravel in Russia and Eotvos at Glyndebourne.

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Originally broadcast on 29th November 2012

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Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable,
magic, lust, comedy.

On today’s show we’re talking to the countertenor Owen Willetts about performing Britten’s opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream
with Marionette puppets and singing Purcell’s The Fairy Queen; both are works based on the Shakespeare play. We’ll also
hear some Mendelssohn and some Henze, who have been similarly inspired by Puck, Oberon and the whole forest of mischievous
fairies.

Originally broadcast on 22nd November 2012

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Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable, magic, lust, comedy.

On today’s show we talk to opera singer Marie Angel about her upcoming performance of Michael Nyman’s 8 Lust Songs with the BBC Concert Orchestra and we’ll also hear from Marie about her frequent collaborations with Nyman, Birtwistle and Peter Greenaway.

Originally broadcast on 15th November 2012

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Opera singer Richard Scott explores opera through the prism of various themes – politics, power, greed, the abominable, magic, lust, comedy.

On today’s show he is joined by Mezzo-soprano Lauren Easton and opera director Frederic Wake-Walker to discuss Glyndebourne’s latest opera, “The Yellow Sofa,”  in which a Portuguese Sofa comes to life in a tumultuous household full of adultery and the threat of revenge.

Originally broadcast on 8th November 2012

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