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

The Opera Hour_series2-episode11-20121213 [ 55:44 ] 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 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

The Opera Hour - series2-episode9-20121129 [ 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 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

The Opera Hour_series2-episode8-20121122 [ 1:00:19 ] 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 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

The Opera Hour_series 2-episode 7-20121115 [ 1:00:28 ] 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 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

The Opera Hour_series 2-episode 6-20121108 [ 1:00:01 ] 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 we chart the continuing influence of the Bible and its stories on opera composers, looking at Strauss’s erotic and perverse Salome, the blind and desperate Samson as portrayed by Handel and Saint-Saens and Schoenberg’s unfinished Moses and Aaron.

Originally broadcast on 1st November 2012

The Opera Hour_series2-episode5-20121101 [ 1:00:08 ] 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.
In this week’s show we talk to opera director Netia Jones about her upcoming productions of Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pipplety Pop, Knussen’s two fantasy operas, at the Barbican. And we’ll be hearing extraordinary excerpts from both the Knussen operas as well as highlights from some other childishly fantastical opera scores!

Originally broadcast on 25th October 2012

The Opera Hour_series2-epesode 4-20121025 [ 1:00:25 ] 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.
This weeks opera hour looks at when poetry and opera collide. We’ll be asking the question, what happens when a composer commissions a poet to write their libretto? And we’ll be hearing some of the greatest ever librettos written by poets as diverse as William Shakespeare, Gertrude Stein, Paul Muldoon, W.H. Auden and June Jordan.’

Originally broadcast on 18th October 2012.

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