ARIA SERIOUS?

Happy Friday. What are you listening to this weekend? We're heading up the coast early tomorrow morning to catch one of the last "shows" of Susurrus presented by La Jolla Playhouse at the San Diego Botanic Gardens (formerly Quail Botanic Gardens). This is a site specific theatre piece - it's billed as part radio play, avant-garde sonic art and a walk through the park - all things we like.  We've been told Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream plays a part in this piece. Thus, our listening plans are kind of already chosen for us - we'll give Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream a full listen after checking this out. Share your listening plans below and please, make it a good one. Updated - We've just been informed that Susurrus has been extended through October 23, 2011.

We like opera. We like food, too. In fact, these two things are in our top five favorite things ever. So we're very pleased to announce our Taste of Opera events for 2012. Taste of Opera sprung up during a conversation one hungry meeting when we were trying to make opera more accessible and casual. Our stomach grumbled. We suggested ending the meeting early for lunch. And then someone else suggested lunch and opera, and well, the idea snowballed from there. Taste of Opera is prix fixe meal. You get an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. You also get a glass of wine - hey, another one of our favorite things. The price also covers tax and tip. You also get a casual introduction to one of our operas by Dr. Nic Reveles, our Director of Education. And if that's still not enough we also line up a secondary speaker for the evening who discusses a related but offbeat topic (we had someone talk about wind energy for Don Quixote a few years back, had a Flamenco instructor for C

Now for something completely different - our first video podcast . You can watch it down below. Let us know what you think; these are works in progress - your comments will help us decide which direction to go.

Friday is here! What are you listening to this weekend? Please share it in the comment section below. The Aria Serious crew will have many household visitors this weekend so a full opera is off the menu for this weekend. We'll probably give Nirvana's Nevermind a listen on Saturday however. It came out 20 years ago . This makes us feel very old as we were working in a record store when that album came out and remember it quite well. Make it a good one.

Next season San Diego Opera will welcome soprano Danielle de Niese to the Company to sing her first staged Norina in Don Pasquale . The Aria Serious crew is extra excited about this because we've been big fans of Danielle ever since we caught a glimpse of her in this Youtube video of "Da Tempeste" from Handel's Julius Caesar in Egypt . In it, you not only get to hear an artist of incredible talent, precision and skill, but get to watch someone who is clearly in love with what she is doing. Plus, she has some pretty snazzy dance moves. After watching this video we sought out her recordings (we do love the Baroque) and have been fans ever since. So you can imagine our delight when we heard Danielle would be singing with us in 2012. More so, you should've seen the happy dance we did when Danielle agreed to answer a few questions by email last month. Or perhaps not,  our moves are not nearly as good as Danielle's. Needless to say we were excited. Nervous

San Diego Opera is very pleased to announce our Community Conversations for 2012. We started Community Conversations a few years back as a way to get people interested in our production of Nabuccco and they have now grown into an annual series. Community Conversations is a free, citywide lecture series that explores the various aspects of San Diego Opera’s upcoming season by paring Dr. Nic Reveles (our Director of Education) with a guest speaker and expert who is an expert in their field. These are casual, and fun, and cover a wide variety of thought-provoking topics. We've posted the complete list of Community Conversations for 2012 down below but we encourage you to visit the official page which you can access here  - although these events are free they do require an RSVP, and they do reach capacity well in advance. In Search of the Whale: Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick September 27, 2011, 7:00 PM San Diego Maritime Museum, aboard the Berkeley - 1492 North Harbor Drive.

Happy Podcast Monday - this week, Dr. Nic explores the operatic tradition of the all-male chorus in Moby-Dick . You can download the podcast here . Enjoy!

Happy Friday. What are you listening to this weekend? The Aria Serious crew will give Medea a listen. It's been ages since we've put in on, we don't really remember it at all. On Saturday we'll head over to Politifest at Liberty Station presented by Voice of San Diego . It's free and sounds like a fun and thought provoking event. Sunday there is a lovely polo tournament which benefits us and the San Diego Symphony. Tickets are still available and children are free.   You can get them here . Have a great weekend.

Earlier this year we had the incredible pleasure of welcoming American soprano Talise Trevigne to our Company as Micaela in the season closer, Carmen . When we said goodbye we knew it wouldn't be for long as she is scheduled to come back and reprise the role of Pip she created for the world premiere of Moby-Dick in Dallas. Talise took a few moments from rehearsing Heggie's Pieces of 9/11 in Houston last week to answer "10 Or So Questions With..." San Diego Opera (SDO): First, welcome back to San Diego Opera – we’re very pleased to have you return to us to reprise the role of Pip in Moby-Dick . Audiences remember you from your wonderful Company debut last year as Micaela in Carmen . What have you been up to these past few months? Talise Trevigne (TT): Immediately after returning home to New York, I went into rehearsals for Rossini’s Guillaume Tell at Bel Canto at Caramoor. It was a brilliant show with wonderful colleagues. I sang the role of Tell’s son Jem

A bit of business - our offices will be closed today - Friday, September 9, 2011. And since it is Friday it's time to ask - what are you listening to this weekend? The Aria Serious crew will spend some time with Otello . It's one of our favorite operas and it's been a good few months since we've put it on. Then we'll head up to Hollywood Bowl for The National concert later this weekend. Share your listening plans below and please, make it a good one.

It's been a few years since we've had the delightful American tenor Charles Castronovo sing with us; he made his Company debut as Nadir in The Pearl Fishers in 2008. He recently created the role of Mario opposite Placido Domingo for the world premiere of Il Postino and has been singing  a number of leading roles in Europe as of late. We're very pleased to welcome Charles back as Ernesto in our upcoming production of Don Pasquale . Charles was kind enough to take a few moments to answer our "10 or so Questions with...." while preparing to sing Germont at Vienna State Opera next month. San Diego Opera (SDO): First, welcome back to San Diego Opera – we’re very pleased to have you return to us to sing Ernesto in Don Pasquale . Audiences remember you as Nadir from The Pearl Fishers in 2008. What have you been up to these past few years? Charles Castronovo (CC): Since being in San Diego last I have been VERY busy..! Of course family life balancing with career i

Dr. Nic looks at the career of the Italian tenor who passed away over the weekeend in this special podcast .

This week, Dr. Nic continues his exploration of Opera Buffa with a look at our final opera of the 2012 season, The Barber of Seville . You can download the podcast here .

- Folks, we begin this morning with some very sad news. Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra died yesterday from injuries he sustained 10 days ago in a scooter accident. Salvatore was originally scheduled to sing Don Jose in our production of Carmen last season but had to withdraw to heal a back injury he had sustained from an earlier accident. He was scheduled to make his Company debut in 2013 as Radames in Aida . We have begun the sad task of searching for a replacement. You can read about Salvatore and his death here . You can also read a short statement from his brother about the family's decision to donate his organs to those in need . We only knew Salvatore through emails but his love of life and people came through even then as well as an abundant sense of generosity. Although we're sad to say goodbye, we have a bit of consolation that his organs are now giving life to those in need. He was generous to the very end. Rest in peace. - Maestro James Levine has withdrawn from

A bit of business - the San Diego Opera offices will be closed Friday through Monday, reopening on Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Which means today is our "Friday" and time to ask, what are you listening to this weekend? The Aria Serious Crew will give Moby-Dick another go. We're really digging this opera but now that we're over the initial "hey, this is really good" phase we want to study it a bit more. We'll also catch up on some really good album releases including the flamenco guitar / avant cello LP Barlande by Pedro Soler and Gasper Claus , the resissue of Yellow Ostrich's The Mistress , and we might even get our 80's synth disco on with Blood Orange's Costal Groove Share your listening plans in the comment section below, and please, make it a good one.