Aria Code podcast

Aria Code

Aria Code is a podcast that pulls back the curtain on some of the most famous arias in opera history, with insight from the biggest voices of our time, including Roberto Alagna, Diana Damrau, Sondra Radvanovsky, and many others. Hosted by Grammy Award-winner and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Rhiannon Giddens, Aria Code is produced in partnership with The Metropolitan Opera. Each episode dives into one aria — a feature for a single singer — and explores how and why these brief musical moments have imprinted themselves in our collective consciousness and what it takes to stand on the Met stage and sing them. A wealth of guests—from artists like Rufus Wainwright and Ruben Santiago-Hudson to non-musicians like Dame Judi Dench and Dr. Brooke Magnanti, author of The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl—join Rhiannon and the Met Opera’s singers to understand why these arias touch us at such a human level, well over a century after they were written. Each episode ends with the aria, uninterrupted and in full, recorded from the Met Opera stage. Aria Code is produced in partnership with WQXR, The Metropolitan Opera and WNYC Studios.

Aria Code is a podcast that pulls back the curtain on some of the most famous arias in opera history, with insight from the biggest voices of our time, including Roberto Alagna, Diana Damrau, Sondra Radvanovsky, and many others. Hosted by Grammy Award-winner and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Rhiannon Giddens, Aria Code is produced in partnership with The Metropolitan Opera. Each episode dives into one aria — a feature for a single singer — and explores how and why these brief musical moments have imprinted themselves in our collective consciousness and what it takes to stand on the Met stage and sing them. A wealth of guests—from artists like Rufus Wainwright and Ruben Santiago-Hudson to non-musicians like Dame Judi Dench and Dr. Brooke Magnanti, author of The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl—join Rhiannon and the Met Opera’s singers to understand why these arias touch us at such a human level, well over a century after they were written. Each episode ends with the aria, uninterrupted and in full, recorded from the Met Opera stage. Aria Code is produced in partnership with WQXR, The Metropolitan Opera and WNYC Studios.

 

#50

Love and Other Drugs: Gounod's Roméo et Juliette

Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is the most famous love story in the Western canon. It’s ... more

17 Jan 2024

54 MINS

54:14

17 Jan 2024


#49

You Don't Own Me: The Myth and Magic of Bizet's Carmen

Carmen is maybe the most famous heroine in all of opera. She’s a woman of Romani descent l... more

03 Jan 2024

53 MINS

53:47

03 Jan 2024


#48

Revisiting Mozart’s Queen of the Night: Outrage Out of This World

When the Voyager spacecraft set off to explore the galaxy in 1977, it carried a recording ... more

13 Dec 2023

27 MINS

27:11

13 Dec 2023


#47

Love Takes Flight: Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas

It’s the early 1900s, and the steamship El Dorado makes its way along the Amazon River tow... more

29 Nov 2023

52 MINS

52:54

29 Nov 2023


#46

Davis’s X: The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X

Malcolm X led many lives within his 39 years: as a bereaved but precocious child; as an im... more

15 Nov 2023

45 MINS

45:50

15 Nov 2023


#45

Revisiting Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice: Don’t Look Back in Ardor

If a loved one were to die, how far would you be willing to go to bring them back? Orpheus... more

01 Nov 2023

32 MINS

32:55

01 Nov 2023


#44

Good Things Come to Those Who Weep: Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore

“L’Elisir d’Amore” — “The Elixir of Love” — is what’s known as an opera buffa, or comic op... more

18 Oct 2023

42 MINS

42:09

18 Oct 2023


#43

Death, Faith, and Redemption: Heggie’s Dead Man Walking

What does redemption mean to a man sentenced to death? Is capital punishment justice or ve... more

04 Oct 2023

44 MINS

44:58

04 Oct 2023


#42

Aria Code Returns for Season 4!

At last! After much anticipation, Aria Code returns! We’re guiding listeners through highl... more

28 Sep 2023

02 MINS

02:00

28 Sep 2023


#41

P.S. I Love You: Renée Fleming Sings Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin

Saying “I love you” for the first time takes courage, especially when you don’t know the r... more

01 Dec 2021

51 MINS

51:13

01 Dec 2021


#40

To Be Or Not To Be: Dean's Hamlet

“To be or not to be, that is the question.” It’s hard to think of a more famous line from ... more

17 Nov 2021

41 MINS

41:58

17 Nov 2021


#39

Potion, Emotion, Devotion: Wagner's Tristan und Isolde

When we talk about “falling in love,” we talk about it like it is something that just happ... more

03 Nov 2021

39 MINS

39:46

03 Nov 2021


#38

Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones: A Boy of Peculiar Grace

This week we’re decoding with the man who wrote the code - Terence Blanchard, composer of ... more

13 Oct 2021

42 MINS

42:45

13 Oct 2021


#37

Verdi's Nabucco: By the Rivers of Babylon

Psalm 137 depicts the ancient Hebrews, enslaved and weeping “by the rivers of Babylon,” as... more

29 Sep 2021

44 MINS

44:16

29 Sep 2021


#36

Once More Into the Breeches: Joyce DiDonato Sings Strauss

The young Composer in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos is one of opera’s great trouser roles --... more

15 Sep 2021

32 MINS

32:38

15 Sep 2021


#35

Breaking Mad: Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor

People who go to see Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor spend the entire evening wait... more

25 Aug 2021

1 HR 04 MINS

1:04:20

25 Aug 2021


#34

Crisis in the Kremlin: Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov

Perhaps no opera better reflects the questions and contradictions at the heart of Russian ... more

11 Aug 2021

33 MINS

33:57

11 Aug 2021


#33

Only the Good Die Young: Verdi's La Traviata

One of opera’s great heroines is based on one of history’s extraordinary women. The 19th c... more

21 Jul 2021

37 MINS

37:39

21 Jul 2021


#32

Guys and Dolls: Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann

What makes us human? As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, technology is becom... more

07 Jul 2021

40 MINS

40:17

07 Jul 2021


#31

Strauss's Elektra: Waltzing With a Vengeance

Note: This episode includes descriptions of childhood sexual assault. The drive for reveng... more

23 Jun 2021

43 MINS

43:43

23 Jun 2021


#30

Puccini's Tosca: Death is But a Dream

It’s not easy to talk about death. We associate dying with so much suffering and loss. But... more

09 Jun 2021

27 MINS

27:47

09 Jun 2021


#29

Handel's Agrippina: Nice Romans Finish Last

In order to be a Roman Emperor, you had to be entirely cold-blooded. It was a violent worl... more

19 May 2021

37 MINS

37:38

19 May 2021


#28

Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress: I Walk the Line

Almost three hundred years ago, the English artist William Hogarth created a series of pai... more

05 May 2021

46 MINS

46:23

05 May 2021


#27

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro: Count On a Reckoning

Maybe you’ve heard this one before: a powerful man abuses his privilege and wealth to expl... more

21 Apr 2021

37 MINS

37:29

21 Apr 2021


#26

Rossini's Barber of Seville: On a Wig and a Prayer

Chances are, you know the overture to The Barber of Seville (maybe from Bugs Bunny?!) but ... more

07 Apr 2021

41 MINS

41:02

07 Apr 2021


#25

Verdi's Aida: There's No Place Like Home

They say you can’t go home again, and Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida knows it all too well. Capture... more

24 Mar 2021

41 MINS

41:43

24 Mar 2021


#24

Puccini's Turandot: Hope Never Sleeps

Sometimes, the only thing that gets us through the darkest moments is knowing that the sun... more

10 Mar 2021

33 MINS

33:06

10 Mar 2021


#23

Aria Code Is Back and Bigger Than Ever!

The third season of the critically-acclaimed podcast is more expansive than the previous t... more

03 Mar 2021

01 MINS

01:28

03 Mar 2021


#22

Rossini's La Cenerentola: Opera's Cinderella Story

Gioachino Rossini’s operatic version of the Cinderella story may not have any enchanted mi... more

05 Feb 2020

41 MINS

41:32

05 Feb 2020


#21

Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann: Fool for Love

Love is intoxicating, but dating can be hard. In Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann... more

29 Jan 2020

33 MINS

33:37

29 Jan 2020