You probably know more opera music than you think you do. If you like to watch TV or go to the movies, you’ve undoubtedly heard music from operas used in ways the original composers could never have even imagined. We’ve raided the Seattle Opera archives to put together a playlist featuring some of opera’s greatest hits—tunes you may already know because you’ve heard them in the cinema. 

For full details of which movie used which music, visit our blog at http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2015/08/opera-in-movies.html. 

Opera Goes to the Movies

On May 11, 2024, Seattle Opera celebrated its 60th Anniversary with a special star-studded gala. Kazem Abdullah conducted the mighty Seattle Opera orchestra and chorus. Enjoy a couple excerpts from that memorable night!

60th Anniversary Celebration Highlights

In January 2025 Seattle Opera presents a concert version, featuring full orchestra and chorus, of Les Troyens à Carthage (Acts 3, 4, & 5 of Berlioz's monumental epic). The tragic romance of Dido and Aeneas plays out in the aftermath of the Trojan War, to some of French grand opera's greatest music. Tacoma native J’Nai Bridges and Russell Thomas return to Seattle Opera. More info at https://www.seattleopera.org/performances-events/les-troyens/

Les Troyens à Carthage

Don't mess with the diva! In Puccini’s sure-fire favorite, a fiery prima donna struggles to free her true love from the clutches of a wicked police chief. Passionate arias and truly terrific musical moments pepper a rousing score, bringing Tosca’s emotional extremes into sharp relief as the story rushes toward its thrilling conclusion. 
Photo by Elise Bakketun

TOSCA

Seattle Opera Podcasts

Aleksandra Kurzak won Artist of the Year in 2010/11 for her performance as Lucia di Lammermoor. In the conclusion to her mad scene, Lucia prepares for an eternity she hopes she can share with her beloved Edgardo. “Opera News” called her performance a ‘musical and dramatic tour de force’ and said that her “mad scene made those of most contemporary Lucia interpreters look quite tame.” Bruno Cinquegrani conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. 

Photo by Rozarii Lynch

Artist of the Year: ALEKSANDRA KURZAK as Lucia

Greer Grimsley sings Scarpia’s “Va, Tosca,” the conclusion of Act One of Puccini’s opera. Grimsley, who sang this aria at the gala opening of McCaw Hall in 2003, returns in 2015 for his third Seattle outing as the villainous police chief. After instructing his henchman Spoletta (Steven Cole) to have Tosca followed, Scarpia muses about his plans for the diva while the people of Rome (chorus and Youth Chorus) assemble in church to sing a “Te Deum”: “Go, Tosca…Scarpia is nesting in your heart. Scarpia has let loose the falcon of your jealousy. So much promise in your rush to suspicion. I have two targets, and less precious is the rebel’s head. To see the fire of those proud eyes going out amid spasms of love...in my arms, suffocating in love. One to the gallows, the other to my arms…Tosca, you make me forget God!” For a recent Seattle Opera interview with Grimsley: go to http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2013/07/meet-our-singers-greer-grimsley.html. Vjekoslav Sutej conducts the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera. 

Rozarii Lynch, photo

GREER GRIMSLEY Sings “Va, Tosca”

The great Australian diva first came to Seattle in 1966 because of a lucky connection:  the Seattle mezzo-soprano Dori Cole, who was touring the opera houses “Down Under” with Sutherland and her conductor husband Richard Bonynge.

In his unpublished memoirs, Glynn Ross recalls: “Knowing that he [Bonynge] and Joan were trying to enlarge their repertoire, I offered them the possibility of doing “Lakmé” in Seattle. And since there was only one not-so-good recording by Mado Robin, they might want to record it after the production in Seattle.” 

The “Lakmé” was an unequivocal triumph for Sutherland, who would later return to Seattle for Donna Anna, the “Hoffmann” heroines, and “Le roi de Lahore.” “Her voice is like a pliant golden cord, full and rich and beautiful through her extraordinary range,” wrote The Seattle Times of her Lakmé. Sutherland and Bonynge recorded the opera later that year in Monte Carlo, for Decca. 

Here, from the Seattle performance, Sutherland sings the famous Flower Duet (“Sous le dôme épais”) with Huguette Tourangeau, the Canadian mezzo who was her frequent partner. 

Richard Bonynge conducts Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, and the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo of Glynn Ross and Joan Sutherland in costume by James D. Wilson for Newsweek.

JOAN SUTHERLAND as Lakmé

One of Mozart’s most sublime compositions for voice is the First Act trio from “Così fan tutte,” which was sung at a gala for Seattle Opera’s departing General Director Speight Jenkins by Alwyn Mellor, Kate Lindsey, and Peter Rose. “May the winds blow gently, may the waters be tranquil, and may all of nature answer my prayers for your journey.”

Photo by Elise Bakketun

COSÌ FAN TUTTE Trio

“The zephyr shall sigh this evening beneath the pine trees in the grove,” say the words of the beautiful ‘Letter Duet’ from Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro.” The Countess (Bernarda Bobro) dictates, and Susanna (Nuccia Focile) writes a note inviting the randy Count to a midnight assignation in the garden. Gary Thor Wedow conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera.
Photo by Philip Newton



MARRIAGE OF FIGARO: Letter Duet

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

At Seattle Opera's 60th Anniversary Gala in May 2024, Kazem Abdullah conducted the chorus and orchestra performing "Va, pensiero" from Verdi's NABUCCO. This chorus of enslaved Israelites, toiling on the banks of the Euphrates river in their Babylonian Exile, has become something of an unofficial national anthem for Italy.

60th Anniversary Gala NABUCCO Va, pensiero

Sarah Coburn returned to Seattle Opera for the 60th Anniversary Gala in May 2024. Among her thrilling performances that night, she sang a dazzling mad scene from Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, a role she has sung with great success around the world. Kazem Abdullah conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Flute solo by Demarre McGill.  
Photo by Philip Newton

SARAH COBURN Sings Lucia’s Mad Scene

At Seattle Opera’s 60th Anniversary Gala, in May 2024, Kazem Abdullah conducted chorus and orchestra performing one of Wagner’s noblest melodies, the Pilgrims’ Chorus from TANNHÄUSER. This excerpt included the redemptive conclusion to the opera, when news that the dead staff in the Pope’s hand has indeed sprouted new verdure arrives at just the right time, proving that there is hope for the fallen Tannhäuser’s immortal soul. 
Photo by Philip Newton

Pilgrims’ Chorus from TANNHÄUSER

At Seattle Opera’s 60th Anniversary Gala in May 2024, South Korean tenor Duke Kim sang Roméo’s “Ah, lève-toi, soleil” from ROMÉO ET JULIETTE by Charles Gounod. Kim, who has sung Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA and Count Almaviva in THE BARBER OF SEVILLE in Seattle, has triumphed elsewhere as Romeo. Here, in an operatic answer to Shakespeare’s balcony scene, he wonders “What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun…”
Kazem Abdullah conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera.

DUKE KIM Sings “Ah, lève-toi, soleil”

James Robinson, new General and Artistic Director of Seattle Opera, introduces the 2025/26 season. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE promises a musically extraordinary operatic approach to Gilbert & Sullivan; come prepared to laugh and to enjoy some familiar music as you’ve never heard it before. DAPHNE In Concert offers a rare opportunity to hear a lush Romantic masterpiece by Richard Strauss, an orchestral tour de force with splendid voices. FELLOW TRAVELERS, by Gregory Spears & Greg Pierce, is one of the most successful new American operas of the past decade: a bittersweet gay romance hidden inside a political thriller. And CARMEN returns in a powerful production conducted by Seattle’s beloved Ludovic Morlot and starring some of our favorite singers. Musical examples include excerpts from a 1959 Glyndebourne PIRATES OF PENZANCE conducted by Malcolm Sargent and starring George Baker, Elsie Morison, and James Milligan; the 1964 Vienna Festival DAPHNE conducted by Karl Böhm and starring Hilde Gueden, Fritz Wunderlich, and James King; the recording of FELLOW TRAVELERS' world premiere, 2016 at Cincinnati Opera and starring Aaron Blake, Joseph Lattanzi, and Devon Guthrie, with the Cincinnati Symphony conducted by Mark Gibson; and Seattle Opera recordings of CARMEN from 2019, LES TROYENS from 2025, starring J’Nai Bridges and conducted by Ludovic Morlot, and HANSEL UND GRETEL from 2016 starring Sasha Cooke and conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing.

2025/26 Season Preview with James Robinson

In Act Two of Gilbert & Sullivan’s THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE the pirates plan to storm Major-General Stanley’s house in the middle of the night, unaware that a crowd of policemen, relentlessly imitating trumpets to embolden themselves, are waiting to ambush and arrest them. After failing to be as quiet as they claim, the pirates sing one of Sullivan’s most beloved tunes—actually, Sullivan’s copyright piracy of Verdi’s “Anvil Chorus” from IL TROVATORE. Francesco Milioto conducted the chorus & orchestra of The Atlanta Opera in Atlanta in 2021. Music provided by The Atlanta Opera Film Studio.

PIRATES: With cat-like tread,
Upon our prey we steal; 
In silence dread,
Our cautious way we feel.
No sound at all,
We never speak a word, 
A fly’s foot-fall
Would be distinctly heard.
POLICE: (Tarantara, tarantara!)
PIRATES: So stealthily the pirate creeps,
While all the household soundly sleeps. 
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation; 
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee 
With a little burglaree!

PIRATES: “With cat-like tread”

Of all the daughters of Major-General Stanley only Mabel agrees, “for pity’s sake,” to answer young Frederic’s plea for redeeming love. (“The question is, had he not been / A thing of beauty, / Would she be swayed by quite as keen / A sense of duty?” her sisters wonder.) This charming waltz number was performed by Susanne Burgess, with the chorus and orchestra of The Atlanta Opera conducted by Francesco Milioto, in Atlanta in 2021. Music provided by The Atlanta Opera Film Studio.

SISTERS: Take heart; no danger lowers; 
Take any heart-but ours!
MABEL: Take heart, fair days will shine; 
Take any heart – take mine!
Poor wandering one!
Though thou hast surely strayed, 
Take heart of grace,
Thy steps retrace, 
Poor wandering one!

PIRATES: “Poor, wandering one”

In what’s probably the most famous number Gilbert & Sullivan ever wrote, Major-General Stanley describes his own accomplishments—and limitations—in glorious detail to an admiring crowd of pirates and his own many daughters. Curt Olds performed this patter song, with the chorus and orchestra of The Atlanta Opera conducted by Francesco Milioto, in Atlanta in 2021. Music provided by The Atlanta Opera Film Studio. 

I am the very model of a modern Major-General, 
I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical 
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical, 
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical, 
About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news –
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I’m very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous: 
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, 
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

I know our mythic history, King Arthur’s and Sir Caradoc’s; 
I answer hard acrostics, I’ve a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus, 
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies, 
I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I’ve heard the music’s din afore, 
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform, 
And tell you every detail of Caractacus’s uniform:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, 
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

In fact, when I know what is meant by “mamelon” and “ravelin”, 
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I’m more wary at, 
And when I know precisely what is meant by “commissariat”,
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
 When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery; 
In short, when I’ve a smattering of elemental strategy, 
You’ll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
For my military knowledge, though I’m plucky and adventury, 
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century; 
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

PIRATES: Major-General’s Song

Seattle Opera presents its first-ever Gilbert & Sullivan in October 2025: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, in a charming, traditional production that has already delighted many American opera audiences. Jonathan Dean explains the difference between opera and operetta, shares a bit of the music and humor of PIRATES, and attempts to explain what THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE is all about. Musical examples from Seattle Opera recordings of RIGOLETTO and IL TROVATORE, plus a recording of PIRATES provided by the Atlanta Opera Film Studio (with Susanne Burgess as Mabel and Santiago Ballerini as Frederic, Chorus and Orchestra of Atlanta Opera conducted by Francesco Milioto) and another recorded in 1959 by EMI, featuring George Baker as the Major-General, James Milligan as the Pirate King, Owen Brannigan as the Police Sergeant, plus the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and the Pro Arte Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. 


THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE 101

DAPHNE, by Richard Strauss, comes to Seattle Opera for two concert performances in January 2025. This gorgeous opera, based on Greek myth, is a splendid showcase for a fantastic orchestra. Jonathan Dean explains what Strauss learned from Wagner, tells this unfamiliar opera’s story, and explores the meaning of the myth. Musical examples from the 2005 Decca recording of Daphne (West Deutscher Rundfunk Orchestra conducted by Semyon Bychkov, with Renee Fleming, Johan Botha, Michael Schade, Anna Larsson, Kwanchul Youn, Julia Kleiter, and Twyla Robinson); the 1983 EMI recording (Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Bernard Haitink, with Lucia Popp, Reiner Goldberg, Peter Schreier, Ortrun Wenkel, and Kurt Moll); and the 1965 Deutsche Gramophon recording (Vienna Symphony conducted by Karl Böhm, starring Hilde Gueden, James King, Fritz Wunderlich, Vera Little, and Paul Schöffler).


DAPHNE 101

In February/March 2026 Seattle Opera premieres a new production of FELLOW TRAVELERS, an opera (based on the novel by Thomas Mallon) with music by Gregory Spears to a libretto by Greg Pierce that premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2016. Jonathan Dean introduces this beautiful new American opera, a love story set against the historical backdrop of McCarthy’s witch hunts and the Lavender Scare in 1950s Washington, DC. Musical examples from the world premiere recording of Fellow Travelers, conducted by Mark Gibson and featuring Aaron Blake as Tim, Joseph Lattanzi as Hawk, Devon Guthrie as Mary, Tayla Lieberman as Lucy, Marcus DeLoach, Vernon Hartman, Paul Scholten, and Christian Pursell in other roles, with the orchestra of Cincinnati Opera.


FELLOW TRAVELERS 101

Act Four of LES TROYENS climaxes in the gorgeous love duet for Dido and Aeneas, “Nuit d’ivresse” (set to words Berlioz lifted from THE MERCHANT OF VENICE). But this night of rapture has a rude awakening, as the god Mercury reminds Aeneas his destiny will lead him to “Italie! Italie!” in the end. J’nai Bridges (Dido), Russell Thomas (Aeneas), Richard L. Hodges (Mercury), and the orchestra of Seattle Opera are conducted by Ludovic Morlot. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

'Nuit d'ivresse' from LES TROYENS

Serbian baritone Željko Lučić made his Seattle Opera debut in May 2025 singing Scarpia in TOSCA. In his aria “Hai più forte sapore” this villain sings about how much more exciting violent conquest is, to him, than consensual sex. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Leonardo Sini. Photo by Sunny Martini. 

ŽELJKO LUČIĆ as Scarpia

American baritone Craig Colclough made his Seattle Opera debut in May 2025 singing Scarpia in TOSCA. In Act Two, he tells Tosca how he’s always been her number-one fan, and that he’s just seen her in her best role yet. “When I saw you clinging to Cavaradossi, that’s when I knew I must have you!” Vanessa Goikoetxea as Tosca and the orchestra of Seattle Opera were conducted by Leonardo Sini. Photo by Sunny Martini. 

CRAIG COLCLOUGH as Scarpia

In her aria “Adieu, fière cité,” Queen Dido of Carthage bids farewell to the community she saved and the proud city she built from nothing as she plans her own demise. J’Nai Bridges sang her first Dido in concert at Seattle Opera in 2025, with the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Ludovic Morlot. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

J'NAI BRIDGES as Dido

Spanish soprano Vanessa Goikoetxea returns to Seattle Opera as Tosca. In Act Three she reenacts, for the benefit of her beloved Cavaradossi, what she did to Scarpia at the end of Act Two. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Leonardo Sini. Photo by Sunny Martini. 

VANESSA GOIKOETXEA as Tosca

Kosovan tenor Rame Lahaj made his Seattle Opera debut singing Cavaradossi in TOSCA in May 2025. In his third act aria, sung as he’s waiting on death row to be executed, this painter depicts in his mind’s eye the most perfect experience he ever had: a night of bliss in the garden with Tosca. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Leonardo Sini. Photo by Sunny Martini. 

RAME LAHAJ sings 'E lucevan le stelle'

Act 3 of LES TROYENS concludes as pious Aeneas, about to lead his men into battle, bids farewell to his son, Ascanius. “My boy, others will teach you the art of being happy. All you’ll learn from me are the virtues of war and respect for the gods. Keep in your heart and preserve in your memory Aeneas and Hector, examples of glory.” With a lively chorus, the merged armies of Dido and Aeneas then dash off to battle the invading enemy, Iarbas. Orchestra and Chorus of Seattle Opera conducted by Ludovic Morlot. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

RUSSELL THOMAS as Aeneas & War Chorus

Bass Adam Lau returned to Seattle Opera to sing Dido’s advisor, Narbal, in LES TROYENS. Although Dido seems happy hosting her exiled Trojan guest Aeneas, Narbal anticipates the trouble that will certainly come from this visit. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Ludovic Morlot. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

ADAM LAU as Narbal

As Dido and Aeneas gear up for a night of rapture and infinite ecstasy, everybody in the cast of LES TROYENS blends their voices for a septet-with-chorus about the glorious Mediterranean evening here in Carthage. Ludovic Morlot conducts Russell Thomas (Aeneas), Tess Altiveros (Ascanius), Andrew Potter (Panthus), John Matthew Myers (Iopas), J’Nai Bridges (Dido), Kelly O’Connor (Anna), and Adam Lau (Narbal), plus the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

Moonlight Ensemble from LES TROYENS

A highlight of Berlioz’s LES TROYENS is the extended orchestral interlude known as the “Royal Hunt and Storm,” which begins Act Four. Having successfully repelled Dido’s aggressive neighbor, Iarbas, Aeneas stays on in Carthage. One day he and Dido are out hunting, and they get caught by a storm. According to Virgil (in Shadi Bartsch’s translation), “Dido and the Trojan leader come to the same cave. Ancient Earth and Juno, marriage goddess, give the signal. Lightning flashes, nymphs howl from the hills, the sky is witness to the wedding. This was the first day of death, the first cause of ruin. She’s unmoved by rumor or appearance and no longer plans to hide her love: she says they’re wed. With this word she masks her fault.” Ludovic Morlot conducted the orchestra and chorus of Seattle Opera in this memorable music in 2025. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

Royal Hunt and Storm from LES TROYENS

Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian returns to Seattle Opera as Tosca. In her famous Act 2 aria, “Vissi d’arte,” this diva asks why, given how hard she has tried to be a good person, God rewards her with the terrible situation in which she finds herself. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Leonardo Sini. Photo by Sunny Martini. 

LIANNA HAROUTOUNIAN sings 'Vissi d'arte'

American tenor John Matthew Myers made his Seattle Opera debut in the January 2025 concert presentation of LES TROYENS. As Dido’s court poet, Iopas, Myers sang the lovely tenor aria, “O blonde Cerès,” praising the goddess of the harvest. The orchestra of Seattle Opera was conducted by Ludovic Morlot. Photo by David Jaewon Oh. 

JOHN MATTHEW MYERS as Iopas

Sung by Renee Fleming, with the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Bruce Ferden in 1990. 

In Dvořák’s gorgeous opera tragedy based on “The Little Mermaid,” the heroine begs the moon to shine on her beloved prince and bear him her love. 

Photo by Gary Smith

Song to the Moon from RUSALKA - sung by Renee Fleming

Sung by Antonello Palombi, with the Seattle Opera Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch, 2012.

One of opera’s most beloved arias, this lovely nocturne is sung by a mysterious unknown prince who has bested the ice princess Turandot in her life-or-death riddle game—but who, instead of claiming her as his bride, has asked her to solve the riddle of his identity. He is confident that she will fall in love with him before the night is over. 

Photo by Alan Alabastro. 

“Nessun dorma” from TURANDOT

Sung by Rosario LaSpina and Nuccia Focile, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Vjekoslav Sutej, 2007.

Rodolfo and Mimì fall in love by moonlight, in a frozen attic garret, as they sing one of Puccini’s best-known love duets, to close Act One of “La bohème.”

Photo by Rozarii Lynch. 

“O soave fanciulla” from LA BOHÈME

Sung by Cynthia Haymon, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Cal Stewart Kellog, 1990. 

This lovely aria, as famous for its many appearances on TV and movies as on the opera stage as a central moment in Puccini’s only opera comedy, is a lesson for teenage vixens in how to manipulate your father. Lauretta won’t be able to marry her beloved Rinuccio unless her father, Gianni Schicchi, agrees to help Rinuccio’s family, so she sings: “O my dear daddy…I like him, he’s so handsome. I want to go to the Porta Rossa to buy a ring. Yes, I want to go! And if I love him in vain, I’ll go to the Ponte Vecchio and throw myself into the Arno! I can’t bear it, I’m so unhappy! O God, I want to die! Daddy, have pity!”

Photo by Gary Smith

“O mio babbino caro” from GIANNI SCHICCHI

Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Dean Williamson, 2009. 

This whirligig overture, a favorite of orchestras, audiences, and Mozart-lovers worldwide, sets the scene for the “One Crazy Day” of Figaro’s wedding to Susanna. 

Photo of Seattle Opera Orchestra by Jacob Lucas.

MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Overture

Sung by Francesco Demuro, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Frizza, 2014. 

The handsome young Lothario, the Duke of Mantua, tells us all we need to know about him in the first few minutes of Verdi’s “Rigoletto”: 

“This woman or that one…to me they’re all the same.
I don’t let any one beauty dominate my heart.
Fate strews pretty women through a man’s life like flowers.
If one takes my fancy today, perhaps another will tomorrow.
Fidelity is a fearful tyrant, a cruel disease.
Stay faithful if you like…but there’s no love without freedom.
I laugh at jealous husbands’ fury and lovers’ mad fits.
For love I’d defy the hundred eyes of Argus.”

Photo by Elise Bakketun. 

“Questa o quella” from RIGOLETTO

This well-known tune begins Act Two of Verdi’s IL TROVATORE, as Manrico's men continue to make weapons for the never-ending war. Seattle Opera Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Carlo Montanaro.
Photo by Philip Newton.

IL TROVATORE: Anvil Chorus

Sung by Wendy Bryn Harmer, Jessica Klein, Suzanne Hendrix, Luretta Bybee, Tamara Mancini, Sarah Heltzel, Renée Tatum, and Cecelia Hall, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch, 2013. 

Wagner’s noisy goddesses of death and carnage ride their thunderclouds through the night sky, assembling on their mountaintop for a laugh with each other before bearing the corpses of the mightiest dead warriors up to Valhalla to join the heavenly army. RING audiences hear this well-known music at the start of Act 3 of “Die Walküre.” 

Ride of the Valkyries

For his 1871 opera celebrating the world of ancient Egypt, Giuseppe Verdi invented a strange musical world full of pungent harmonies and curling arabesques to give an otherworldly character to the prayers to the god Ptah. Marcy Stonikas sings the Priestess in Seattle Opera’s “Aida." John Fiore conducts the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Philip Newton.

To learn more about operatic orientalism, go to http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2015/10/western-fantasies-of-east-orientalism.html

Verdi's "Ancient Egyptian" Music

Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte sang Tosca at several of the January 2015 performances of Puccini’s popular melodrama, before an illness forced her to cancel. Here she sings a passage from her famous Act Two aria, “Vissi d’arte.”
“I gave my jewels for the Madonna’s cloak. I gave my song to heaven, and it became even more beautiful. In the hour of my sorrow, why, why, O Lord, do You repay me thus?”
Julian Kovatchev conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Elise Bakketun.

TOSCA: "Vissi d'arte"

Stefano Secco sings “E lucevan le stelle” from Seattle Opera’s January 2015 performances of “Tosca.” Doomed to be shot at dawn, the painter remembers a night in the garden with his beloved Tosca.
“O sweet kisses, melting caresses...my hands were trembling as I loosened her veils...but that dream of love is gone forever. The moment has passed, and I die in despair, and never have I loved life so much.”
Julian Kovatchev conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Elise Bakketun.

TOSCA: "E lucevan le stelle"

The Queen of the Night sings one of the most familiar and popular arias ever written for coloratura soprano in Act Two of Mozart’s “Magic Flute.” Furious that her daughter (plus boyfriend) have turned against her, this power-hungry monster does her best to manipulate the princess with fearsome words and music: “The vengeance of hell boils in my heart. Flames of death and despair burn around me! Unless you make Sarastro suffer the pangs of death, you are no longer my daughter. Be cast off forever! Be forsaken forever! Let all bonds of nature be shattered forever—unless you kill Sarastro. Hear, gods of vengeance: hear a mother's vow!” Greek-born soprano Christina Poulitsi makes her Seattle Opera debut in this role, with the Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Julia Jones. Photo by Philip Newton.

CHRISTINA POULITSI as The Queen of the Night

One of Verdi’s most infectious melodies, the toast from the first act of “La traviata” celebrates the glittering, superficial merriment of the Paris demimonde. Stefano Ranzani conducts Corinne Winters as Violetta, Joshua Dennis as Alfredo, and the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Philip Newton.

Violetta's Toast (“Libiamo nei lieti calici”) from LA TRAVIATA

The magnificent overture to Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" tells the story of the opera musically. In 2007, Asher Fisch conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera in this stirring music.

Image: Engraving by Gustav Dore for Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." 

From the FLYING DUTCHMAN Overture

The young Chevalier Des Grieux falls madly in love at first sight with the pretty young Manon Lescaut, bound for a convent, and remembers how she told him her name in the beautiful tenor aria "Donna non vidi mai" from Act 1 of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT. Ted Lee sang this role at Seattle Opera in 2005, under the baton of Antonello Allemandi.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch

MANON LESCAUT "Donna non vidi mai"

Australian baritone José Carbo sang the beloved baritone aria “Largo al factotum” in Seattle Opera’s 2011 BARBER OF SEVILLE. The self-satisfied barber bounds onstage and proceeds to sing his own praises in this delightful music, climaxing in his imitation of all the people of Seville clamoring for him. Dean Williamson conducted the orchestra of Seattle Opera. 

Photo by Rozarii Lynch

Figaro’s Entrance from THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

In Rossini’s whimsical take on the Cinderella story, Dandini, the Prince’s valet, makes a show-stopping entrance in the first-scene, pretending to be the Prince (who, disguised as a valet, has already fallen for pretty Cenerentola). In Seattle Opera’s 2013 LA CENERENTOLA, Brett Polegato as Dandini simultaneously ridiculed the Prince (René Barbera), Don Magnifico (Patrick Carfizzi), and Cenerentola (Daniela Pini)’s wicked step-sisters Clorinda (Dana Pundt) and Tisbe (Sarah Larsen). Giacomo Sagripanti conducted the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera.

Photo by Alan Alabastro 

LA CENERENTOLA: Dandini Impersonates the Prince

Some of the most familiar music in all opera began not with the comic opera which made it famous, Rossini’s BARBER OF SEVILLE, but with an earlier Rossini opera, a serious work about ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ENGLAND. Only Rossini could write music so effortlessly perfect and charming it works for both tragedy and comedy (not to mention for the great Bugs Bunny short, “The Rabbit of Seville!”) Giacomo Sagripanti conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera.

From the BARBER OF SEVILLE Overture

The bustling overture to CARMEN bursts out of the gate with lively music from the bullfighting scene of Act 4, interrupted by the well-known tune of Escamillo’s “Toreador Song.” Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera.
Image: Miki De Goodaboom

CARMEN: Overture

A podcast introducing CARMEN, narrated by Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean. Musical examples from Seattle Opera’s archival recordings of Carmen; from 1995, with Greer Grimsley as Escamillo (conducted by Steven Sloane); from 2004, with Stephanie Blythe (Carmen) and Paul Charles Clarke (Don José), conducted by George Manahan; and from 2011, with Anita Rachvelishvili (Carmen), Fernando de la Mora (Don José), and Norah Amsellem (Micaëla), conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi.

CARMEN 101 Podcast

Latvian mezzo-soprano Zanda Švēde makes her Seattle Opera debut singing the title role in CARMEN. In her famous Act 1 Habanera, Carmen announces her perverse philosophy of love to an admiring throng: "Love is a wild bird, a lawless child. If you love me, I don't love you; and if I love you, watch out!" Giacomo Sagripanti conducts the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera.

ZANDA ŠVĒDE Sings Carmen's Habanera

At the heart of PAGLIACCI is one of the most beloved arias ever written, the cry of a clown whose heart is breaking: “Put on your costume and white-face; the people paid, they want to laugh. And if Harlequin steals your Columbina, laugh, Pagliaccio, and everyone will applaud. Turn your anguish and tears into jokes; into a silly face your heartbreak and sorrow. Laugh, Pagliaccio, about your shattered love. Laugh at the misery which poisons your heart.” Dean Williamson conducted Antonello Palombi and the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Rozarii Lynch.

PAGLIACCI: Vesti la giubba

One of Verdi’s most beloved melodies, the famous chorus “Va, pensiero” from “Nabucco” serves as a sort of unofficial national anthem in Italy. In the opera the Hebrews, languishing in captivity in Babylon, remember their beloved homeland in Zion with longing and seek the strength to endure their suffering and exile. Carlo Montanaro conducted the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera on opening night of the Seattle premiere of "Nabucco," August 8, 2015. Photo by Philip Newton.


“Va, pensiero” - from NABUCCO

Dana Pundt, a native of southeast Texas, made her Seattle Opera mainstage debut as Clorinda in “La Cenerentola” in January, 2013. She opened the “Viva Verdi!” concert with Violetta’s tour de force Act One of “La traviata.” In its final minutes, she proclaims herself unfit for the true love offered earlier in the scene by the adoring Alfredo: “Madness! I live only for pleasure. I must be forever free, reeling about from joy to joy.” But the tenor’s passionate declaration of love echoes in her mind...

Dana Pundt as Violetta, Theo Lebow as Alfredo; Brian Garman conducts the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program Orchestra. Photo by Bill Mohn.

For an interview with Dana Pundt, go to http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2012/12/meet-our-singers-dana-pundt-clorinda.html. 

"Sempre libera" from LA TRAVIATA

"Woman is fickle, like a feather in the wind, always changing her mind and her heart." In this familiar tune, the licentious Duke complains fatuously about the opposite sex. Sung by tenor Theo Lebow; Brian Garman conducts the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program Orchestra.

RIGOLETTO: "La donna è mobile"

Founded in 1963, Seattle Opera is a leading American opera company. The company presents the classics of the European repertoire as well as new works of American opera. Frequent productions of Wagner's RING, beginning in 1975, established the company's worldwide reputation. Seattle Opera usually presents five opera productions each year.

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