Saturdays at 4:30 pm
The Chagall ceiling of Opéra Garnier in Paris (Photo: Lin Padgham, CC BY 2.0, cropped, via Flickr)
Enjoy recording collector and host Larry Johnson’s vast library of vocal music.
Arias and Songs celebrates great singers of the past and present, from Maria Callas and Jussi Björling to Renée Fleming and Jonas Kaufmann. Each week, recording collector and host Larry Johnson spins a wonderful web of opera, operetta, Broadway tunes, art songs—even vintage pop. Expect the unexpected as Larry guides you through the range and nuance of vocal artistry, with some programs tied to local performances, as well.
The player below features a continuous three hour loop of the most recent Arias and Songs episodes to be joined in progress.
There are no upcoming broadcasts at the moment.
Can There Ever Be Enough Mozart?
April 7, 2018
Certainly NOT! Delighting the heart and soul are selections from six Mozart operas. Artists include Fredericka Von Stade, Teresa Berganza, Gottlob Frick, Pilar Lorengar, Gabriel Bacquier, Lucia Popp and Edita Gruberova. A must hear indeed for Mozart fans.
A Program Sung in Latin
March 31, 2018
Selections will be heard from religious works by Charpantier, Rossini, Verdi and Bruckner as well as Orff’s Carmina Burana and a choral work from the film The Lion in Winter. Among the various artists will be Cecilia Bartoli, Luba Orgaosova and Jussi Bjoerling.
Here Comes the Sun
March 24, 2018
Here is a program filled with sunshine for a March day. Franco Corelli sings O sole mio plus arias from Rigoletto, Romeo and Juliet and May Night. Also spreading sunshine are Karita Mattila, Piotr Beczala, Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi and Nicolai Gedda.
Songs of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff
March 17, 2018
A program of heartfelt and passionate songs by two of Russia’s finest composers. The recordings are by Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Anna Netrebko, Galina Vishnevskaya, Nicolai Gedda, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Boris Christoff and Eileen Farrell.
Lyric Opera’s Faust
March 10, 2018
The bill comes due and the devil gets Faust’s soul in this program of highlights from Gounod’s opera. Caught in the devil’s trap are Victoria de los Angeles, Alfredo Kraus, Joan Sutherland, Boris Christoff, Franco Corelli, and Nicoli Ghiaurov.
Lyric Opera’s I Puritani
March 3, 2018
Larry offers highlights from this rarely heard Bellini masterpiece. Bel canto specialists include Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballe, Franco Corelli and Giuseppe Di Stefano.
Arias & Songs Goes to the Movies
February 24, 2018
Larry explores the first decade of movies with sound, the “talkies,” beginning with The Blue Angel from Germany in 1929 starring Marlene Dietrich to Judy Garland in 1939 in a song deleted from The Wizard of Oz. Others vocals are by Fred Astaire, Mae West, Bing Crosby, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.
The Art of Paul Robeson
February 10, 2018
Recordings will be heard by this American bass and civil rights activist who openly supported the Spanish Civil War, gave concerts in the Soviet Union and was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. Among the songs will be spirituals and selections from Jerome Kern’s Showboat in which Robeson sang in the London premiere.
The Art of Marian Anderson
February 3, 2018
One of America’s great voices, this contralto from Philadelphia endured much discrimination and had to find acceptance in Europe. Eventually she would break the color barrier at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955 opening the door to generations of African American artists.
Remembering Franz Schubert
January 27, 2018
Larry presents a program for Schubert’s Birthday. Celebrants include Jesse Norman, Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau, Benita Valente and Ian Bostridge.
A Coloratura Spectacular
January 20, 2018
Vocal pyrotechnics abound with high Cs, trills and singing techniques that leave you breathless. At their best are Joan Sutherland, Alfred Deller, Lucia Popp, Sigrid Onegin and Magda Olivero.
Remembering Dimitri Hvorostovky
January 13, 2018
Larry will offer a tribute to the late Russian baritone who passed away in November, 2017.
Highlights from Lerner & Loewe Musicals
January 5, 2018
Picture: Stanley Holloway (center) as Alfred P. Doolittle from the Broadway presentation of My Fair Lady. Selections from three highly successful Broadway musicals by Lerner & Loewe bring in the New Year. Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Robert Goulet, Stanley Holloway and more will be heard in Brigadoon, My Fair Lady and Camelot.
New Year’s Eve in Vienna
December 30, 2017
The champagne will flow as Anna Moffo, Thomas Hampson and Jerry Hadley sing Johann Strauss. Simon Keenlyside honors Franz Lehar. Andre Rieu plays the theme from the film The Third Man and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf salutes Vienna, the city of dreams.
A Program for the Holidays
December 23, 2017
Larry offers four settings of the Ave Maria sung by Leontyne Price, Jeanette MacDonald, and Carol Vaness. Paul Robeson will sing two carols recalling the Nativity.
Two Sleepwalkers
December 16, 2017
“Out, out damned spot” sings Leontyne Price as Lady Macbeth as she sleepwalks with blood on her hands. Maria Callas as Amina in La Sonnambula awakes from her nocturnal rambling to find that love conquers all.
Lyric Opera’s Turandot
December 9, 2017
Another Prince tries his luck hoping to solve Turandot’s three riddles as Puccini’s masterpiece returns to Lyric Opera. Hear spectacular excerpts sung by Jussi Bjoerling, Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballe, Jose Carreras, Jonas Kaufman and Joan Sutherland.
The Art of Rosa Ponselle, Part 2
December 2, 2017
An exploration of the life and art of this American diva continues noting the glory years at the MET when she became one of the greatest Norma’s of the twentieth century. She then surprises her public and retires at age forty never to sing on stage again.
The Art of Rosa Ponselle, part 1
November 25, 2017
She was one of the finest soprano voices our country has produced. Amazingly she came out of vaudeville, had never sung an opera yet made her debut at the MET with Enrico Caruso in an opera she had never even heard of. A story that must be told!
Lyric Opera’s “The Pearl Fishers”
November 18, 2017
Longtime audience favorite, the Pearl Fishers’ duet will be sung by Jerry Hadley and Thomas Hampson. Other selections from Bizet’s opera are sung by Janine Micheau, Enrico Caruso and Placido Domingo.
