NPR's World of Opera

KPBX 91.1, Wednesday, 7pm-9pm

World of Opera brings listeners compelling performances from top American and international opera companies. World of Opera encompasses the seminal operas of the 17th century; the political and social satires of the 18th century; the "bel canto" masterpieces of Donizetti and Bellini; the revolutionary 19th-century works of Verdi and Wagner; and, of course, operas in the "true-to-life" verismo style of Puccini and Mascagni.

Begun in April 1984, World of Opera goes beyond the traditional, operatic vernacular to showcase opera as anything but an elitist form of art. As the series reveals, opera has been to past centuries what the cinema is to us today: a star-studded, multi-faceted, multi-media form of entertainment, evoking a world of tragedy and triumph, passion and seduction, intrigue and disaster, jealousies and dreams — a world that people return to over and over again. In fact, opera is as popular today as it ever has been.

Program Listings:
July 1, 2009
The up and coming Swiss Baroque ensemble I Barocchisti brings us a seldom-heard drama by Handel, sung by a top-notch cast, from Lausanne's beautiful Salle Metropole. This production of Faramondo is conducted by Diego Fasolis.
CAST: Max Emanuel Cencic (Faramondo); Sophie Karthäuser (Clotilde); Marina de Liso (Rosimonda); Insung Sinn (Gustavo); Philippe Jaroussky (Adolfo); Xavier Sabata Corominas (Gernando); Fulvio Bettini (Teobaldo); Johann Ebert (Childerico)

July 8, 2009
GIOACHINO ROSSINI: The Voyage to Rheims
Rossini's last Italian opera, this score was originally conceived as a one-act "occasional piece" -- nearly three hours long! -- to celebrate the coronation of a French king, and it contains some of the finest vocal writing Rossini ever produced. And don't worry: This La Scala production does include an intermission. Ottavio Dantone conducts.

CAST: Patricia Ciofi (Corinna); Annick Massis (Contessa di Folleville); Carmela Remigio (Madama Cortese); Juan F. Gatell Abre (Cavalier Belfiore); Dmitry Korchak (Conte di Libenskof); Alastair Miles (Lord Sidney); Nicola Ulivieri (Don Profondo); Fabio Capitanucci (Don Alvaro)

July 15, 2009
GIUSEPPE VERDI: Simon Boccanegra
At times neglected, this sombre and brooding drama -- with only one major female role -- is now widely recognized as among Verdi's most powerful and compelling operas. Leo Nucci takes the complex title role in a production from the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Yves Abel.

CAST: Leo Nucci (Simon Boccanegra); Roxana Briban (Maria); Giacomo Prestia (Jacopo Fiesco); Mario Malagnini (Gabriele Adorno); Eijiro Kai (Paolo Albiani); Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Pietro)

July 22, 2009
JOSEPH HADYN: Orlando Paladino
Of all Haydn's operas, this was the most popular in his lifetime, and arguably his best, described as "a comedy of errors in which most of the characters are in love with the wrong partner." Orlando, literally crazy for love, goes in search of Medoro and Angelica, while Rodomonte is trying to kill him, and the witch Alcina targets him with fiendish hexes. In Concertgebouw, Amsterdam from the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic. Alessandro De Marchi conducts.

CAST: Henriette Bonde-Hansen (Angelica); Marcel Reijans (Orlando); Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte); Elena Monti (Alcina); Kenneth Tarver (Medoro); Nikolay Borchev (Pasquale); Martijn Cornet (Caronte); Peter Gijsbertsen (Licone); Laura Cherici (Eurilla)

July 29, 2009
GAETANO DONIZETTI: The Daughter of the Regiment
Donizetti's "light comedy" is an opera that lives up to both halves of that description. The story may not be particularly challenging, but there are plenty of laughs and it's all conveyed through one of the composer's liveliest and most entertaining scores. Featuring the Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Riccardo Frizza.

CAST: JiYoung Lee (Marie); José Bros (Tonio); Victoria Livengood (La Marchise); Simone Alberghini (Sulpice Pingot); Obed Urena (Hortensius); Matthew J. Minor (Corporal); Madeleine Gray (La Duchesse)

August 3, 2009
LEOS JANACEK: The Cunning Little Vixen
Based on an illustrated tale published as a newspaper serial, this fanciful opera is one of Janacek's true masterworks -- at once charming, frightening, tragic and, in the end, life-affirming. The Houston Grand Opera was conducted by Patrick Summers in this remarkable performance.

CAST: Lisa Saffer (Vixen); Hector Vasquez (Forrester); Jennifer Root (Forrester's Wife); Ekaterina Gorlova (Young Vixen); Fiona Murphy (Fox Golden-Stripe); Meredith F. Flores (Cricket); Alina Slavik (Grasshopper); Jon Kolbet (Mosquito/Schoolmaster); Allan Lawrence (Frog); Maria Markina (Lapak/Woodpecker); Laurie Lester (Pepik); Rebeka Camm (Chocholka the Hen); Albina Shagimuratova (Frantik); Alicia Gianni (Rooster/Jay); Ryan McKinny (Badger); Bradley Garvin (Parson); Beau Gibson (Pasek); Liam Bonner (Harasta); Tamara Wilson (Pasek's Wife)

August 10, 2009
HENRY PURCELL: The Fairy Queen
Technically, this drama is called a "semi-opera." Still, semi- or not, The Fairy Queen was the most lavish work of its kind when it first appeared in 1692. This production comes to us fresh from its late-July premiere at Royal Albert Hall, as part of London's famous Proms.

CAST: TBA (to incude sopranos Lucy Crowe, Claire Debono, Anna Devin and Carolyn Sampson; tenors Robert Burt, Ed Lyon, Sean Clayton and Adrian Ward; bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams)

August 17, 2009
JACQUES OFFENBACH: The Tales of Hoffmann
Offenbach's masterpiece is both a three-act opera and a trilogy of taut, individual dramas, all rolled into one. This Grand Theatre of Geneva production features baritone Marc Laho in the tour-de-force triple villain roles, with three different standout sopranos as the tales' three heroines. The Suisse Romande Orchestra was conducted by Patrick Davin.

CAST: Marc Laho (Hoffmann); Nicolas Cavallier (Lindorf, Coppelius, Dr. Miracle, Dapertutto); Stella Dufexis (Niklausse, Muse); Patricia Petitbon (Olympia); Rachel Harnisch (Antonia); Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Giulietta); Eric Huchet (Andres, Cochenille, Frantz, Pitichinaccio); Francisco Vas (Spalanzani); Bernard Deletre (Schlemil); Rene Schirrer (Luther); Gilles Cachemaille (Crespel)

August 24, 2009
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Ezio
While Ezio may lack the lustrous ensembles that characterize some of Handel's best operas, the musical and dramatic impact of its many spectacular solo arias make its characters some of the most vivid that Handel ever evoked. At the Rococo Theatre in Schwetzingen, featuring Attilio Cremonesi conducting the Basel Chamber Orchestra.

CAST: Yosemeh Adjei (Ezio); Netta Or (Fulvia); Mariselle Martinez (Valentiniano); Hilke Andersen (Onoria); Donat Havar (Massimo); Marcell Bakonyi (Varo)

August 31, 2009
GIUSEPPE VERDI: Aida
One of the world's most popular operas, Verdi's drama takes a familiar plot element -- the thorny love triangle -- and reinvents it using strikingly complex characters who confront their anxieties and passions amidst the mystery and spectacle of ancient Egypt. The Houston Grand Opera was conducted by Carlo Rizzi.

CAST: Zvetelina Vassileva (Aida); Marco Berti (Radames); Dolora Zajick (Amneris); Gordon Hawkins (Amonasro); Tigran Martirossian (Ramfis); Bradley Garvin (King of Egypt); Tamara Wilson (Priestess); Beau Gibson (Messenger)

About the host:

Lisa Simeone joined NPR World of Opera as its host in July 2002.She has more than 25 years of experience in radio and television, including at All Things Considered, Performance Today, Weekend Edition and the Metropolitan Opera. She also hosts the nationally syndicated BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcast Series, and the internationally syndicated documentary series Soundprint.

She has produced three documentaries for Soundprint: "Bachelor Party"; "Strippers: Thinly Veiled"; and "Money in the Family." For 13 seasons she hosted the nationally syndicated Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Casual Concerts with conductor David Zinman.

Simeone began her career at WBJC in Baltimore and WETA in Washington, D.C. During her ten years at Baltimore's WJHU, she developed a loyal following for her unusual mix of programming — classical, folk, and jazz, along with provocative reports, interviews, and call-in shows on a wide variety of subjects, everything from anthropology to neuroscience to philosophy to media criticism. (But she confesses that her favorite reports are on things such as bocce, The Hon Man of Baltimore, and the virtues of a well-fitting bra!).

As a freelancer, she has done voice-overs, narrations, and hosting for the Discovery Channel, PBS and commercial enterprises.

When she's not doing radio, Simeone writes articles for Style Magazine and the Urbanite, as well as book reviews and op-eds for the Baltimore Sun.

Simeone was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland (the 'Great Books School') in 1980. In 1997, she earned an M.A. from the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University.