Story Archives of 'Opera'

The word opera means "work" in Italian, and the combination of singing, acting and dancing on stage is indeed a labor of love.

But many Americans have never seen live opera. Attending the opera means you have to get there first, which isn't so easy for people living outside urban areas, and then paying for it, which at the Metropolitan Opera in New York means upwards of $300 a ticket - and that’s for a Saturday matinee.

So when the Met began simulcasting operas to movie theaters - from cineplexes in Fargo to shopping malls in France - for about $18 a ticket, the floodgates were opened, and it was a hit.

Even with complaints about the smell of fake-buttered popcorn and the crumpling Sno-Cap wrappers while, say, Rodolfo cries out in agony over the lifeless body of his lover, Mimi, the Met simulcasts have been selling out in venues world-wide. And other cultural organizations are catching on.

Marc Scorca is the president of Opera America, a group that represents the industry. Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott speaks with Scorca about this new way of reaching audiences.

See the schedule for the "Met Opera's Live in HD" series

UPDATE: Met General Manager Peter Gelb is scheduled to talk at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government on March 3rd. Click here for details.

We look at two different operas today, a very funny work by British composer Benjamin Britten and some more traditional work by one of opera's favorite sons, Giuseppe Verdi. Opera North is in the midst of a production of Benjamin Britten's opera called Albert Herring, and in tandem with that, a production of Giuseppe Verdi's "Il Trovatore." We'll talk about the beautiful but demanding works being staged at the Lebanon Opera House with Opera North's Director of Productions Ron Lukinger and Artistic Director Louis Burkot.

Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl commits hari cari… it’s the basis of the plot of one of the most beautiful operas every written, Madame Butterfly. Composed by the Italian Giacomo Puccini, it first premiered over 102 years ago, and has become one of the world's most popular operas. The Granite State Opera will be performing Madame Butterfly this May. Today we talk about Puccini, about Madame Butterfly and their influence on music and opera both then and now. Laura's guests are Philip Lauriat, Artistic Director of the Granite State Opera and Harlow Robinson, Professor at Northeastern University in Boston, author of two books on Sergei Prokofiev and a regular contributor for the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts and lecturer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Recent federal budget cuts may affect employment services in many parts of New Hampshire. We'll talk with the Department of Employment Security Commissioner Richard Brothers about the state's response, and get a broader picture of the issue from UNH Economist Ross Gittell.

And we'll talk with Concord playwright Paul Hodes about his new opera about the life of Oscar Wilde. Paul collaborated with Boston composer Thomas Oboe Lee on the opera which is still in production and will be performed this weekend.

TONIGHT'S SONG: "The Start of Something", by the Austin band Voxtrot. Their debut EP is called Raised By Wolves.

Mezzo-soprano Janice Edwards has performed regularly for audiences in the United States and Europe. Her favorite roles include some of the Wagner and Verdi heroines; she brings them to life on the stage, in classes statewide, and in workshops she presents in the Czech Republic.