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08:05

Review: Jonas Kaufmann Sings Wagner And Verdi

At 44, the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann may be the most popular tenor of his generation in the international opera world, and one of the most versatile. Among his recordings this year are albums dedicated to both Verdi and Wagner, celebrating the bicentennials of their birth.

Review
08:08

This Opera Will Eat Your Heart Out

In few operas does all the mayhem express what underlies George Benjamin's Written on Skin. The work conveys a profound awareness of human cruelty and its inextricable connection to passion and art.

Review
06:10

Cecilia Bartoli's New 'Mission' Unearths Baroque Gems.

Critic Lloyd Schwartz welcomes the opera star's new album, Mission, which breathes new life into the work of Italian composer Agostino Steffani. Bartoli, he says, has an astonishing capacity for vocal fireworks and warm, delicate lyricism.

Review
07:52

'Porgy And Bess,' Adapted For Modern Times

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz just attended two productions of Porgy and Bess: an operatic performance at Tanglewood and a musical-theater version in Cambridge, Mass. He says it can work either way, "as long as Gershwin's great score remains its heart and soul."

Review
08:30

'Sweethearts' On-Screen, But What Happens Off?

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers weren't the only famous Hollywood musical team of the 1930s. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy also starred in a series of operettas. But classical music critic lloyd Schwartz says the couples achieved their success in quite opposite ways.

Review
08:26

New Releases Showcase Lieberson's Vocal Talent

Mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberwson died a little more than five years ago at the height of her career. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says that, just when it seemed we weren't going to hear her sing anything new, some fantastic live performances have been released for the first time.

Review
07:22

A Night At The Opera (On The Silver Screen)

Senso, a 1954 Italian political melodrama, and Two Sisters From Boston, a 1946 Hollywood comedy, couldn't be more different — except they're both set at the opera. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says he loves them both.

Review
07:18

Remembering 'La Stupenda': Opera Singer Joan Sutherland.

From the late 1950s up until her last stage appearance in 1990, Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland was one of the world's most admired and celebrated opera stars. She died Sunday at age 83. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz looks back at the life and work of the singer known as "La Stupenda."

Obituary
08:50

'Furore': Handel, Causing Quite A Fuss

American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato released a dazzling CD of Handel arias — Furore, a collection of set-pieces from operas and oratorios in which Handel's characters experience flights of passion.

Review
06:52

'The Construction of Boston,' Caught On Disc

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new CD of Scott Wheeler's opera, based on a hymn to Boston by the New York poet Kenneth Koch. The disc captures a live performance by the Boston Cecilia choral society.

Review
07:58

Weill's 'Mahagonny' on DVD

Fresh Air's classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new DVD release of a lesser-known Kurt Weill opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny.

Review

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