Episode 30: A Night at the Opera

No singers, no sets, no chorus? No problem! The grandest music from the greatest operas still rings out on the Heifetz stage, thanks to the legions of composers who have arranged, fantasized, transcribed, and otherwise transformed the opera world’s most moving and memorable melodies into instrumental showpieces. This episode features operatic performances both poignant and dazzling, played in concert by young Heifetz virtuosos. This Episode’s Playlist Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5 Aram Khachaturian: Sabre Dance from Gayane 24 Cellos of Heifetz 2014 Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.13.2014 Georg Friderich Handel: Overture to Giulio Cesare Heifetz Baroque Chamber Orchestra | David Stern, conductor Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.10.2019 Gluck: Mélodie from Orfeo ed Euridice Madison Vest, violin | Carlos Avila, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 10.15.2015 Georg Friderich Handel: Sonata in G Minor for Two Cellos in G minor, HWV 393 I. Andante Antonio Lysy, cello | Mo Mo, cello | Coleman Itzkoff, cello continuo | Andrew Rosenblum, harpsichord Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording 07.10.2016 Pablo de Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy SoHyun Ko, violin | Miki Aoki, piano First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute recording | 07.08.2021 Bohuslav Martinů: Variations on a Theme By Rossini Mo Mo, cello | Carlos Avila, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute recording | 07.16.2016 Jules Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs Tommy Mesa, cello | Yoon Lee, piano Virtual Performance, Miami FLA / New York NY Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.29.2020 Henryk Wieniawski: Fantasy on Themes from Gounod’s Faust, Op. 20 Marina Alba Lopez, violin | Andrew Rosenblum, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute recording | 06.25.2023