A seemingly all-powerful sorceress rules over her own island domain. She enchants not only nature, but also men, who are helpless to resist her charms. And when she does tire of those besotted men, it’s nothing that a transfiguration from man to animal cannot solve. However, downfall is imminent when she truly falls in love with one of the ensnared men. It turns out that this man’s true love is a fearsome warrior woman, whose skills rival those of Charlemagne’s famed paladins. (Big trouble for A...
May 10, 2026•1 hr 58 min
Known to history as “The Scourge of God,” Attila was a rampaging conqueror who famously turned aside from the city of Rome after a meeting with the Pope. In this version, Attila is also opposed by a vengeful slave, a morally flexible Roman general, and a wily and determined warrior woman. Historical? Not so much. But this stunning opera from early-career Verdi, Attila is a work that deserves to be heard and enjoyed, full of exquisite arias, duets, ensembles, choral numbers, and what may be opera...
Apr 12, 2026•2 hr
All hands on deck! This episode of Opera for Everyone dives headlong into a leviathan of 21st-century opera: Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick (2010). Adapted from Melville’s classic American novel, this seafaring drama is a gripping operatic meditation on obsession, authority, and the power of friendship. With Gene Scheer’s cinematic libretto and Heggie’s muscular score, the opera captures both the immensity of the sea and the intensity of life aboard the Pequod . Joining Pat on this voyage is guest Cand...
Mar 09, 2026•1 hr 58 min
When an entrenched oligarchy and a cynical revolution go to war with one another, what happens to all the people in the middle? Some may be victimized, others silenced, and yet others swept up in the churn of events. In Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète , Jean of Leiden finds himself assuming the mantle of prophet and messiah, setting up expectations for himself that he can never fulfil. This epic French Grand Opera, loosely based on a real historical figure who came to be known as “King of the Ne...
Feb 10, 2026•1 hr 58 min
Richard Wagner’s first truly successful opera, set in medieval Rome, sees a young nobleman in love with a young plebeian woman. While this might sound like it’s going to be an operatic love story, it’s quite a different thing entirely: Grand Opera, Wagner-style. Based on a controversial and visionary historical figure who became a footnote, but aspired to change the face of history, it has soaring music, but this opera is less concerned with romance than the fortunes of a leader trying to accumu...
Jan 12, 2026•2 hr 4 min
Mac the Knife, terror of the London criminal underworld, is a character paradoxically best known to many as the subject of the upbeat, bubbly eponymous 1955, 1959, and 1960 hit single. However, his fictional roots go much deeper, to a nearly 300-year old opera called The Beggar’s Opera . From here, Mac’s trail led to 1928’s The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, that is the subject of today’s episode. Join Pat and guest Maria Coulter for a conversation about this opera, which is...
Dec 14, 2025•2 hr
Can an opera, that most complex of art forms, take you back to childhood? Unlikely though it might seem, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (“The Child and the Enchantments”) does just that through the talents of composer Maurice Ravel and writer Colette. This one-act opera, fantastical though it is, can transport you to all-too-real, seemingly lost memories. Over the course of the story, our nameless child protagonist wrestles with his powerlessness and power, responsibility and dependence, piteousness...
Nov 16, 2025•1 hr 57 min
Which is stronger: the temptations of a shadowy wish-granter, or the love of a virtuous woman? In The Rake’s Progress , Tom’s true love Anne seeks to save him from himself, seeking to unwind the schemes of the literal devil. Yet when the dust settles, it is hard to say who has triumphed… Tom is saved, but it is a messy and piteous sort of salvation. In the only full opera composed by Igor Stravinsky, powerful supernatural elements are key to the drama, but the characters–archetypal in many respe...
Oct 05, 2025•1 hr 58 min
King Arthur stands astride the intersection of history, myth, legend, and politics. In every age of the history of Britain, he is reinterpreted for new audiences and new purposes. When composer Henry Purcell and poet-librettist John Dryden set out to write their opera about Arthur, they did so following a century in which England had seen monarchs rise, fall, be beheaded, exiled, returned in triumph, and driven out in disgrace. King Arthur takes place not in Camelot, but in a world of clashing c...
Sep 08, 2025•1 hr 58 min
It might at first sound like it would be nice to be the lover of the king of the Olympian gods, attended by divine spirits, and living in a luxurious palace among the clouds. But this happily-ever-after turns sour after Princess Semele asks Jupiter for the gift of immortality. After a bit of intrigue amongst the gods–not least among them Jupiter’s resourceful and ruthless wife Juno–disaster strikes the princess Semele and her dreams are reduced to ashes. An “English opera” from the later career ...
Aug 10, 2025•2 hr 2 min
The young Aida loves the dashing military commander Radamès, and he adores her with a burning passion.Their mutual love is, however, somewhat complicated by the fact that Aida is a slave, enslaved by a princess who is equally smitten with the heroic warrior. Further complicating matters, Radamès’ military renown is founded on successfully prosecuting a war against Aida’s people. In this violent clash of the personal and political, Aida triumphs in her quest to be together “ever after” with Radam...
Jul 13, 2025•1 hr 59 min
If you’re going to have a love triangle, why not have a singing knight, a literal saint, and the Goddess of Love herself? Come and enjoy the kind of sweeping, romantic, metaphysical yet dramatic opera that could only come from the utterly unrestrained Richard Wagner. Evil and good, bondage and freedom, power and love clash cataclysmically, and a legendary story is definitively rewritten. Hosted by Pat with guest co-hosts Kathleen and Grant For more cultural and arts commentary by Kathleen Van De...
Jun 15, 2025•2 hr 2 min
Once upon a time, there was a heroic knight, the greatest of Charlamagne’s famed paladins, and his name was Orlando (or Roland, depending on whom you ask.) Among his many heroic deeds and great journeys was this: a quest to a magical isle to abduct the headstrong princess Angelica and steal the ashes of Melin (yes, that Merlin). As his failure to win Angelica’s heart leads him down the path to madness, we must ask: is there hope for this broken hero after all? Antonio Vivaldi, famed composer of ...
May 18, 2025•1 hr 59 min
You’ve never heard the story of Romeo and Juliet told like this! Not even if you have listened to the three previous episodes in which Pat and Kathleen discuss three operas based on the enduring tale of the “star-crossed lovers,” Ep. 120 Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette , Ep. 124 Vaccai’s Giulietta e Romeo, Ep. 126 Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Hector Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette is a “dramatic symphony” in which three choirs and three soloists help tell the story of the two iconic lovers, who ar...
Apr 27, 2025•1 hr 59 min
What can one woman do, when set against the entire world? Quite a lot, if she happens to be the sorceress Medea. This French Baroque opera written by Marc Antoine Charpentier takes on the ancient tale of Medea’s struggle to find a place for herself in the world of mythic Greece’s heroes and kingdoms, which eventually descends into fire, chaos, and death. Hosted by Pat, with guest host Petria Fossel
Mar 23, 2025•1 hr 59 min
Can a young man win a wife through a singing competition? He just might, if he’s in Richard Wagner’s romantic comedy (yes, you read that right, “Richard Wagner’s romantic comedy,”) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Young Walter may not be trained in the masters’ techniques, but ultimately his passion wins the hearts of the beautiful Eva, the singing masters, and the people of Nuremberg. Join Pat and guest co-host Gerald Malone for an in-depth discussion of one of Wagner’s most intriguing operas. G...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 59 min
Ill-fated lovers caught up in a world incapable of supporting love not sanctioned by officialdom… it’s a story for the ages. Join Pat and Kathleen for their third look at the Romeo and Juliet story in operatic form, I Capuleti e I Montecchi , by bel canto master, Vincenzo Bellini. If you haven’t already, we invite you to listen to Episode 120 on Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette , and Episode 124 on Nicola Vaccai’s Giulietta e Romeo. Hosted by Pat and Kathleen For more cultural and arts commentary by K...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 59 min
“Seems an opera house is the perfect place for mischief and mayhem,” says the hard-boiled Inspector Cristina as she seeks to unravel the mystery at the heart of Overture to Murder , the meticulously researched third book of Erica Miner’s “Julia Kogan Opera Mystery Series.” Mayhem and mischief are no strangers to the opera house, both on and off-stage. Join us for a discussion of both Erica’s new book and Giacomo Puccini’s Il Tabarro , a powerful, gritty verismo opera inspired by the dramatic pot...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 59 min
A great story is one that we are never done with, and there are few stories in human history with as many retellings and reimaginings as the epic tale of Romeo and Juliet. Nicola Vaccai wrote this 1825 opera based not on the Elizabethan play, but on the source materials from which Shakespeare drew. Here, the Montagues and Capulets are not merely feuding families, but armies waging war as a part of the titanic power struggles between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy that wracked medieval and ...
Nov 14, 2024•2 hr 2 min
Trying desperately to return home alive from the Trojan War, King Idomeneo makes a terrible promise to the sea god from the deck of his storm-ravaged ship. The consequence of his promise is worse than he could imagine, and only after many twists does he achingly find his way to peace. The emotional depth of the characters of Idomeneo gives Mozart ample opportunity to demonstrate his compositional powers in this, his first fully mature and unquestionably successful opera. Hosted by Pat, with gues...
Oct 06, 2024•1 hr 59 min
It’s a battle for the fate of the universe as the Dark Side plots, schemes, and fights to gain dominance over the Light Side. Though this opera predates Mozart’s The Magic Flute by several decades, you may find echoes here of Mozart’s beloved work, as it is also heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment and the principles of Freemasonry. Jean-Philippe Rameau was the pre-eminent French composer of his day, and close with thinkers such as Voltaire. Rameau’s librettist for Zoroastre , L...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 58 min
Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute” ) is, by any measure, one of the most popular, successful, and well-known operas ever written, delighting adults and children alike. Yet experiencing Mozart’s The Magic Flute has left countless opera-goers reflecting contentedly on the sumptuous musical feast, but scratching their heads over the plot and characters. With the help of conductor Ben Manis, Opera for Everyone takes a close look at both Mozart’s musical genius and a narrative journey into a fantasti...
Aug 11, 2024•2 hr 2 min
Of all the love stories ever told, none quite compare to the enduring power of Romeo and Juliet. Over four centuries ago, English playwright William Shakespeare crafted a timeless story harnessing both the powers of profound love and deep hatred, and his tale of “star-crossed lovers” has become an inspiration to countless artists. Two and a half centuries later, French composer Charles Gounod and his librettists took Shakespeare’s play as a starting point, and crafted it into an exquisitely beau...
Jul 21, 2024•1 hr 59 min
An unscrupulous king pressures a woman to marry him. She resists, knowing her heart belongs to the man who truly loves her, the chief general in the king’s army. Into this love-triangle, toss in a scheming underling of the king, a sympathetic maid of the woman, a devoted best friend of the general, and you have all the ingredients for a gripping story. Enhance the whole tale with a magnificent score, and you have a delightful opera, and, in fact, the first fully successful opera by the most prol...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 59 min
KHOL in Jackson WY is Opera for Everyone ’s home radio station, and Wyoming’s only community radio station. If you have ever wanted to support Opera for Everyone, please consider supporting KHOL at 891KHOL.org/donate . June 15 marks the beginning of KHOL’s summer membership drive. Thank you everyone!
Jun 16, 2024•6 min
“The course of true love never did run smooth.” Shakespeare’s iconic " A Midsummer Night’s Dream" gives us some of the Bard’s most memorable (and ridiculous) characters and situations. Benjamin Britten, together with his partner Peter Pears, so appreciated the merits of Shakespeare’s play that they faithfully adapted the script into a libretto for Britten’s 1960 opera of the same name. The good-natured story shifts among fairy and human characters and their antics on a midsummer night. Observing...
May 19, 2024•1 hr 59 min
Was it only a dream? Baroque composer Henry Purcell was on his way to establishing a national operatic tradition based on the dramatic and musical traditions of the English, when, alas, his life was cut short after just 36 years. Join us as we explore Purcell’s musically and emotionally rich “The Fairy Queen,” a delightful twist on the Bard’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare was content to end his tale with ambiguity, and so must we content ourselves with what Purcell has given us, and n...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 59 min
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, K...
Feb 26, 2024•2 hr 6 min
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 M...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 59 min
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 ...
Dec 31, 2023•1 hr 58 min
