Minnesota Opera

Tune into Classical MPR on Wednesday, February 27 at 8 p.m. to hear Minnesota Opera's staging of Massenet's Werther with the pairing of international opera stars James Valenti and Roxana Constantinescu.

Kevin Puts won the Pulitzer Prize for music with Silent Night, which received its world premiere by the Minnesota Opera in St. Paul. You can hear it on air Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. on Classical MPR.

We recently caught up with former Minnesota Varsity Featured and Showcase Artists, including singer Briana Moynihan: "Before Varsity, I had only thought of myself as a student studying music."

Everyday of this year's Minnesota State Fair -- August 23-September 3 -- MPR will host live broadcasts and performances by classical music ensembles. Friday, Aug. 31 is MPR Day at the Fair. Come enjoy a variety of events at the Carousel Park Stage, including host John Birge and Classical MPR's VocalEssence.

With guest conductor, Clinton Smith, the St Cloud Symphony Orchestra closed its season on May 12 with a spectacular concert titled: A Night at the Opera. One of the highlights of the performance was George Bizet's Carmen Suite No. 1. That performance (with a bonus: the Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakme) is in this week's Regional Spotlight.

Mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala has a voice to die for and she can also play any part she's asked to on stage. This weekend, she takes on a new role in the University of Minnesota Opera Theater's production of "Parables" from the Grammy Award winning team of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein.

Kevin Puts has won the Pulitizer Prize for music with Silent Night, his first opera. The work received its world premiere in November in at Minnesota Opera in St. Paul.

Minnesota Opera's season finale is Puccini's classic, "Madame Butterfly." The title role is shared equally by two great singers, Kelly Kaduce and Yunah Lee, over the course of eight (nearly sold-out) performances. They were both kind enough to come to Classical MPR to sing and talk to John Birge, along with Minnesota Opera Artistic Director Dale Johnson.

Susanna Phillips is heard singing at the Metropolitan Opera, and the great opera houses around the world. At Minnesota Opera March 3-10, she gives voice to Lucia, the unheard heroine of Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor. With Classical MPR's John Birge, she sings a guided tour of the opera, including its climactic Mad Scene. And she treats us to a sample of her new CD as well.

Minnesota Public Radio will broadcast Minnesota Opera's 2010 production of Rossini's Cinderella, with Roxana Constantinescu and John Tessier, on Wednesday, February 29, at 8 p.m. The broadcast will honor Gioachino Rossini's 220th birthday -- or is it his 55th?