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:
February 10, 2010
GIACOMO PUCCINI: La Boheme
One of the all-time great "date operas" (remember Cher and Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck?), Puccini's La Boheme is also one of the most popular operas ever composed. This production from the nation's capital features a truly vibrant young cast.

CAST: Adriana Damato (Mimi); Vittorio Grigolo (Rodolfo); Nicole Cabell (Musetta); Paolo Pecchioli (Colline); Hyung Yun (Marcello); Trevor Scheunemann (Schaunard)

February 17, 2010
GIUSEPPE VERDI: La Traviata
Verdi's popular classic comes to us from the Theatre Antique in Orange, in a production starring the exciting soprano Patrizia Ciofi in the demanding role of Violetta, with the rising star Vittorio Grigolo as Alfredo.Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra
Myung-Whun Chung, conductor

CAST: Patrizia Ciofi (Violetta Valery); Vittorio Grigolo (Alfredo Germont); Marzio Giossi (Giorgio Germont); Laura Brioli (Flora); Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Gastone); Jean-Marie Delpas (Baron Douphol); Armando Noguera (Marchise d'Obigny)

February 24, 2010
Houston Grand Opera
At times neglected, this brooding drama is now widely recognized as one of Verdi's most powerful and compelling dramas. Houston Grand Opera presents it with the great baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky as the complex title character.

CAST: Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Simon Boccanegra); Olga Guryakova (Amelia Grimaldi); Marco Berti (Gabriele Adorno); Patrick Carfizzi (Paolo Albiani); Raymond Aceto (Jacopo Fiesco); Ryan McKinny (Pietro); Maria Markina (Amelia's Maid); Beau Gibson (Captain)

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.