VOICEWISE Podcast: The Chorus
Play • 43 min

Many of opera’s greatest and most overwhelming moments happen thanks to the chorus. Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean introduces many of the typical functions of the opera chorus, such as saluting a leader, singing in praise—or fear—of God, providing local color, intensifying the drama, and embodying the multitude. Musical excerpts from three decades of Seattle Opera productions feature the work of Seattle Opera Chorus Masters George Fiore, Beth Kirchoff, and John Keene, in Seattle Opera’s 2015 Nabucco, 2012 Turandot, 2000 Boris Godunov, 2015 Semele, 2007 Iphigénie en Tauride, 2019 Il trovatore, 2014 Tales of Hoffmann, 2013 La bohème, 2011 Porgy and Bess, 1998 Faust, 1994 Lohengrin, 1994 Norma, 2007 Flying Dutchman, 2012 Fidelio, 1989 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and 1990 War and Peace, plus a Decca recording of Die Entführung aus dem Serail conducted by Sir Georg Solti, the Leipzig Radio Chorus and Staatskapelle Dresden performing the Tannhäuser Pilgrims’ Chorus conducted by Silvio Varviso, and the Decca recording of Peter Grimes conducted by Benjamin Britten.

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