ARIA SERIOUS?

We're always honored and delighted to have the return to San Diego Opera of one of the world's greatest singers, bass Ferruccio Furlanetto. This season he sings, for the first time in the U.S., the role of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Ildebrando Pizzetti's Murder in the Cathedral, a role that he thinks compares to the other great roles for bass: Boris, Philip in Don Carlo, Don Quixote. In this wide-ranging conversation with Nicolas Reveles, Geisel Director of Education and Outreach, he talks about this neglected opera and the challenges of the role.

As we look forward to next week's performances of Cruzar la cara de la luna, the first-ever mariachi opera by Jose 'Pepe' Martinez, it's time to get more familiar with mariachi as a musical form. Just what is mariachi, what are its roots, how has it developed and what has it to do with opera? Professor of Mariachi Studies at Southwestern College, classical and mariachi trumpet player Jeff Nevin has some answers for us and we think you'll find entertaining and interesting. Join Nicolas Reveles, the Geisel Director of Education and Outreach for this wonderful conversation.