Name: Sigh No More Ladies, In Windsor Forrest - Ralph Vaughan Williams by Les Sirènes
Duration: 2 min 8 s
Description: First movement of Ralph Vaughan William's "In Windsor Forrest". Recorded live at the 2012 summer concert, accompanied by the Les Sirènes Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Nunn.

Seattle Opera concludes its 24/25 season in May 2025 with TOSCA, Puccini’s beloved thriller. Jonathan Dean introduces the charismatic characters, cinematic music, and wild story that have made TOSCA one of the world’s favorite operas. Musical examples from Seattle Opera archival recordings of Tosca made in 2001 (Antonello Allemandi conducts Carol Vaness), 2007 (Vjekoslav Sutej conducts Lisa Daltirus, Frank Porretta, Jr., and Greer Grimsley) and 2015 (Julian Kovatchev conducts Ausrine Stundyte, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Marcy Stonikas, Stefano Secco, and Greer Grimsley. Special example featuring Korngold’s score to CAPTAIN BLOOD.

TOSCA 101

Mozart’s miraculous final masterpiece returns to Seattle Opera in February/March 2025. Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean introduces the beloved music of THE MAGIC FLUTE, with musical examples from archival Seattle Opera recordings made in 1999 (Daniel Beckwith conducts Nathan Gunn, Paul Charles Clarke, John Osborne, Philip Skinner, Ana Maria Martinez, and Cyndia Sieden); 2011 (Gary Thor Wedow conducts Doug Jones, Alissa Henderson, Benjamin Richardson, and Casi Goodman); and 2017 (Julia Jones conducts Christina Poulitsi, Amanda Forsythe, Randall Bills, Jacqueline Piccolino, Nian Wang, Jenni Bank, Frederick Ballentine, Jonathan Silvia, John Moore, and Ante Jerkunica.)

THE MAGIC FLUTE 101

In January 2025 Seattle Opera will present two concert performances of LES TROYENS À CARTHAGE, the second part (Acts 3, 4, & 5) of Berlioz’s monumental masterpiece LES TROYENS. Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean introduces the music of Berlioz and this full-length program, sharing musical examples from recordings of Georges Thill singing French tenor arias; Les Troyens conducted by Colin Davis in 1969 (with the orchestra and chorus of Covent Garden and Jon Vickers); from 2000 (Davis conducting the London Symphony orchestra and chorus, Ben Heppner, Michelle DeYoung, and Sara Mingardo); and from 2017 (John Nelson conducts the Orchestre and Choeur philharmonique de Strasbourg, Joyce DiDonato, and Cyrille Dubois).

LES TROYENS IN CONCERT 101

Seattle Opera presents the world premiere of JUBILEE, a new opera celebrating spirituals. Created by Tazewell Thompson, librettist of BLUE, JUBILEE tells the story of how a group of African American singers toured America and Europe in the 1870s, using this wonderful music—America’s first great contribution to the world of music—to raise money to build Fisk University. Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean introduces JUBILEE, whose score consists of newly orchestrated arrangements of over 40 beloved spirituals, sung by thirteen singers. Musical examples in this podcast include spirituals sung by Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson; The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music; The Trouble I’ve Seen (Moses Hogan Chorale); Negro Spirituals (Derek Lee Ragin and the Moses Hogan Chorale); Spirituals in Concert (Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman); Gospel Songs (The Missionary Quartet); and Mary Elizabeth Williams singing "Pace, pace" from LA FORZA DEL DESTINO.

JUBILEE 101

For Summer 2024, Seattle Opera will present PAGLIACCI, by Ruggero Leoncavallo, a masterpiece of Italian opera all about lust and jealousy, passion and murder; a show about reality and artifice, comedy and tragedy, freedom and fate. (It’s not about pizza.) Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean introduces PAGLIACCI with musical examples from Seattle Opera’s 2008 archival recording, conducted by Dean Williamson and starring Antonello Palombi as Canio, Nuccia Focile as Nedda, Morgan Smith as Silvio, Gordon Hawkins as Tonio, and Doug Jones as Beppe. Special musical examples feature Enrico Caruso, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and Queen, with Freddie Mercury.

PAGLIACCI 101

At Seattle Opera's 60th Anniversary Gala on May 11, 2024, the Seattle Opera Chorus (conducted by Kazem Abdullah and prepared by chorusmaster Michaella Calzaretta) sang "Stomp your foot upon the floor" from Act 2 of THE TENDER LAND, the 1954 opera by Aaron Copland (libretto by Horace Everett). The scene is an outdoor celebration in a midwestern village in the 1930s; the townsfolk are in high spirits, honoring recent high school graduates, and dance a lively number.

COPLAND: "Stomp Your Foot" from THE TENDER LAND

First movement of Ralph Vaughan William's "In Windsor Forrest". Recorded live at the 2012 summer concert, accompanied by the Les Sirènes Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Nunn.

Sigh No More Ladies, In Windsor Forrest - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Glasgow based female voice choir. Winners of Choir of the Year 2012.

Sigh No More Ladies, In Windsor Forrest - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Les Sirènes

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