American opera director Robin Guarino chats with Evans about her work both on and off the stage. From her time as the first female stagehand at the Metropolitan Opera to her current position as the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair in Opera at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she has made it her mission to combine art with activism. Hear about her experience directing both modern masterpieces and older classics as well as her run-ins with some of today’s biggest names in opera!
Show notes
Birgit Nillson was a 20th-century Swedish dramatic soprano famous for her renditions of the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Rudolph Bing was an Austrian opera impresario (producer) who worked around the world. He notably served as the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
The first (old) Metropolitan Opera House in New York was located on Broadway but was demolished in 1967. The current (new) Metropolitan Opera House is located in Lincoln Center in the Upper West Side.
La fanciulla del West (1910) is an opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg (Hamburg College for Music and Theatre) is a large public university of music in Hamburg, Germany.
Rolf Liebermann was a Swiss composer and music administrator who served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Paris Opera.
Judith Blegen is an American operatic soprano.
La voix humaine (1959) is a one-act opera by 20th-century French composer Francis Poulenc.
In July 1980, a 30-year-old violinist named Helen Mintiks was murdered during the intermission of a performance at the Metropolitan Opera. Read more here.
John Dexter was an English theater, opera, and film director. Guarino mentions his production of French composer Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1956).
Franco Zeffirelli was an Italian director and producer of opera, films, and television. Many of his opera productions are still in use today around the world.
Margarete Wallmann was a German ballerina, choreographer, set designer, and opera director.
Rhoda Levine is an American opera director, choreographer, and professor.
Francesca Zambello is an American opera and theater director who currently serves as director of the Glimmerglass Festival and Washington National Opera.
Ricky Ian Gordon is a contemporary American composer.
Fiora Contino was an American opera conductor and teacher.
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle was a 20th-century French opera director and scenic designer.
Dawn Upshaw is an American operatic soprano.
Robert Wilson is an American experimental theater director and playwright.
The 19th-century Viennese composer W.A. Mozart frequently collaborated with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, such as for their opera The Marriage of Figaro (1786).
Blind Injustice was an opera by composer Scott Davenport Richards and librettist David Cote which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2019.
Patricia (“Patty”) K. Beggs served as Cincinnati Opera’s General Director & CEO from 1997 to 2019.
Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) is a partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music focused on fostering contemporary American opera.
In 2011, Doubt by composer Douglas J Cuomo and librettist John Patrick Shirley became the first project workshopped by OF:NW. The opera premiered at Minnesota Opera in 2013.
Fellow Travelers by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Gregory Pierce is another opera that participated in OF:NW in 2013. Cincinnati Opera premiered the work in 2015. Hear Fellow Travelers composer Gregory Spears talk about the work on a previous episode of Inside Opera.
Castor and Patience by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K. Smith was workshopped through OF:NW in 2019. Cincinnati Opera will premiere the work as part of its 2021 Summer Festival. Hear Castor and Patience composer Gregory Spears talk about the work on a previous episode of Inside Opera.
Rachel Maddow is an American television program host and political commentator, known for the nightly Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.
Joni Mitchell is a critically acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter.
Bob Dylan is a Nobel Prize-winning American singer-songwriter.
Photo: Philip Groshong