Speaking Opera’s “Unapologetically Opera” will be a series of video podcasts that will include interviews with singers and others in the field of opera.
The following introduction video podcast to “Unapologetically Opera” is a conversation between Howard Hart, creator of Speaking Opera, and Ryan Boyd, the executive director of WCAT (Wakefield Community Access Television).
Among the topics discussed:
- My introduction to opera with my grandparents in the age of 78 RPM recordings.
- Future plans for interviews.
- The choice of “Speaking Opera” as the name for the series and website.
- The purpose of an opera club.
- Sales and promotion in the classical music business.
- Guest hosting on radio in NYC in the 1980s interviewing opera singers.
- The tragic demise of the record store with the arrival of Napster.
- My mid-life career change and return to school.
- A return to music and sharing this great art form with others via podcasting.
- Comparing live performances with HD broadcasts and LPs with CDs.
- The “favorite opera” question.