Sounds of Learning

She dies in his arms—while singing, of course! Talk about drama and anguish! The student Des Grieux sees a beautiful young country maiden (Manon) on her way to a convent against her will (sent there by her father). In the matter of minutes Des Grieux and Manon see one another, sing, and fall deeply in love. Deeply! Before they can do anything about it, an old man also sees her stunning beauty—and plans to abduct her. The student tricks the old man and the young lovers run off to Paris before the abduction can occur. Manon likes Paris and soon finds that her young boyfriend can’t give her all the clothes and jewels she wants, so she leaves him for the old man and his money. Then she tires of him and returns to the young dude, only to be tricked by the old man and tossed in prison. Her punishment: banished to Louisiana (in the USA). The lover joins her on the boat and in Louisiana they take a wrong turn and cross a desert. The boyfriend goes to look for water. Manon’s body is wasted fr...

Celebrating the Leap Year! For today's Opera Online session we'll celebrate the birth of the great Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini , born on February 29, 1792, American soprano Reri Grist who was born on that day, and the debut of Meyerbeer's grand opera Les Huguenots on February 29, 1836. Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy 220 years ago (February 29, 1792), began his musical ca reer at age 6 playing the triangle in his father’s musical group. To earn money as a child, he began working in a blacksmith shop. However, because he had a beautiful voice, at age 10 he joined the adult church choir--and from that point his musical career began in earnest. He wrote 39 operas, the most famous of which is the comic opera The Barber of Seville , which he wrote in 12 days. The Rabbit of Seville cartoon as Bugs Bunny cuts Elmer Fudd’s hair to the opera’s music. Here's the popular American baritone Thomas Hampson singing Figaro's famous aria from The Barber of Seville, the ...

Welcome Students and Teachers to Opera Online! To celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday we are dedicating this week's webisode to the feasts of opera! Video Clips of the Week! Our first video clip comes from the most famous dinner scene in all of opera, the Brindisi from Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata . The Brindisi, or drinking song, takes place at a lavish dinner party in early 18th century Paris. Tenor Placido Domingo plays Alfredo, who is in love with the hostess of the party and proposes a toast to love. Violetta ( Teresa Stratas ), the woman Alfredo is in love with, tries to thwart his advances by calling love folly. Our last clip comes from the Metropolitan Opera production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel . After becoming hopelessly lost in the woods, hungry and tired Hansel and Gretel fall asleep. In this production, the children dream of a feast catered by fish and a dozen chefs. Opera on the Air! On Saturday, November 19th at 1 PM radio...