Minnesota Opera

Classical MPR has announced the finalists in its sixth annual Minnesota Varsity classical music showcase for young musicians and composers!

Join us Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. as we head to the Ordway for a special live broadcast of Tosca with the Minnesota Opera. Minnesota native Kelly Kaduce stars in the lead role as the fiery prima donna, with Leonardo Capalbo as Cavaradossi and Stephen Powell as Scarpia.

Listen Wednesday, March 9, at 8 p.m., when Classical MPR broadcasts the Minnesota Opera's 2014 production of Giacomo Puccini's 'La fanciulla del West'. Based on the play 'The Girl of the Golden West' by the American author David Belasco, Puccini's story, set in the Wild West, could qualify as opera's 'Spaghetti Western.' See an excerpt from the show and watch a synopsis of the story.

Ahead of Classical MPR's live broadcast of the Minnesota Opera's sold-out opening night of 'Rusalka' on Saturday, Jan. 23, soprano Kelly Kaduce was kind to give a sneak preview, singing that luminous aria for you in our studio.

Jay Gabler says that the Minnesota Opera's reprise production of Mozart's 'Magic Flute,' with an innovative staging conceived by the theater company 1927, is a must-see.

Wednesday at 8 p.m., hear a live-performance recording of the Minnesota Opera's 2014-2015 production of Donizetti's 'The Elixir of Love.' Get a preview of the music you'll hear by viewing a slideshow and a short video of the performance.

With its passionate, sultry orchestration and a veritable hit parade of recognizable tunes, Georges Bizet's 'Carmen' is an operatic favorite. Listen to the broadcast of the Minnesota Opera's 2014-15 production of 'Carmen' on Wednesday, Sept. 23, starting at 8 p.m., on Classical MPR.

Vocalists and instrumentalists don't tend to hang out together - but if they did, what could the singers teach the players?

It's easy to think of pop music as the soundtrack for a single person's life. We can recall Rihanna's voice serenading us in our car as we drive to yet another date, looking for love in a hopeless place. Even Coldplay, with their cartoonish riffs, can comfort us — but pop music can't speak to the ambiguities of our emotions the way that classical music can.

During Stevie Wonder's recent concert at Target Center, he asked whether any members of his Minnesota string section wanted to take a solo. Violinist Jill Olson Moser raised her bow.