September 27, 2024 • 54 mins
The General and Artistic Director of the New Orleans Opera Lila Palmer joins Hy and Christopher to talk Tosca— and how the Crescent City stands as the 1st City of Opera in the US - American opera got its start in New Orleans in 1796.
Tosca is premiering at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts on Friday, September 27 at 7:30 with a matinee performance on Sunday, September 29 at 2:30. Tickets are available at the box office.
The New Orleans Opera will premiere its next production, Samson and Delilah, on November 8 and 10. The show’s lead, Raehann Bryce, will also be providing a specially concert at the Opera Guild home in the Garden District on the evening of October 22. More information at the New Orleans Opera website.
Tosca is premiering at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts on Friday, September 27 at 7:30 with a matinee performance on Sunday, September 29 at 2:30. Tickets are available at the box office.
The New Orleans Opera will premiere its next production, Samson and Delilah, on November 8 and 10. The show’s lead, Raehann Bryce, will also be providing a specially concert at the Opera Guild home in the Garden District on the evening of October 22. More information at the New Orleans Opera website.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Bid holes, the politicians addressed, the digitators and magicians. Who's
to see the money? Then you don't, there's nothing to
feel the holes while then are feeling their high kits
tied holes, the politicians bouncing down the road every bersition.
(00:23):
With no more corruption and dysfunction, It's gone to take it.
Divide in avention.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And God bless all out there. You are now listening
to the founders, show the voice of the founding fathers.
You're Founding Fathers coming to you deep within the bowels
of those mystic and cryptic alligator swamps of the BAGHASI
that old Crescent City, New Orleans, Louisiana, and high up
on top of that old Liberty Cypress tree way out
(00:52):
on the Eagles Branch. This is none other then you
spend gary by by the republic Chaplain High mceinry.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
With Christopher Tidmore, your roving reporter, resident radical moderate and
associate editor of the Louisiana Weekly newspaper at Louisiana Weekly
dot net. And ladies and gentlemen, we are the first
city of Opera. Opera came to New Orleans in seventeen
ninety six. We premiered literally dozens of international shows in
the North American continent. We were the center of it.
(01:21):
And the fact is it's kind of disconnected from all
of us, yet it's the underpinning of so much of
our music, not just our classical music, but our popular
music down to as you will see some of the
cartoons that your kids and grandkids listen to. It is
something that New Orleans gave to the United States, and
New Orleans is giving and continues to give because joining
(01:43):
Hi McHenry and Christopher Tidmore on this edition of The
Founder's Show is the brilliantly talented Lelah Palmer. She's a
librettis that's opera speak for. She writes operas, she creates
and conducts, and had just had one premier this past
summer at the Des Moines MetroWest called American Apollo.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We'll talk about a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
But she is the new artistic and general director of
the New Orleans Opera. She is bringing a breath of
fresh air into the New Orleans Opera and she's actually
giving us an evening in Roma, a night in Italy
coming up just this coming Friday, the twenty seventh, and Elila.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Before we start talking, the.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Bigger ideas of how important opera is and why we're
doing all of this. Let's do a shameless plug for
the fact that you're putting together an evening much unlike
anybody who here in New Orleans has done before. It's
the actual perfect date night, the Roman Holiday. We'll talk
about this.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
I love that well.
Speaker 6 (02:43):
First of all, thank you so much for having me,
Christopher and high It's such an honor to be here.
And I think this is my first radio interview in
New Orleans.
Speaker 5 (02:50):
Sousrah.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
How many times have we been the first on major
events in this city. I'm telling you, it's what's setting
records here, by the way, with the number one rated
weekend show on.
Speaker 7 (03:00):
W R and No.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
One of the top talk show stations in the Golf South.
So we're making a splash. We got a huge audience,
and thank you all for listening.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
He doesn't mention the first time. We did all the
bad things the first time too, but go ahead and.
Speaker 7 (03:12):
Never do that, especially in politics.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
You know, it's the task of the innovator, right, you
have to take some risks. And well, thank you for
mentioning that.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
In Italy.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
You know, I'm a young mom, young family, just move
down here, really enjoying the city.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
But listen, I kind of know how it is.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
You know, I know that it costs you twenty bucks
an hour to get out of the house with a babysitter.
So one of the things that I wanted to do was,
you know, I always want a glam date night with
my husband, and.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I figure, like, let's make it easy for people.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
And you know, some of us made it over to
Italy to the Riviera this summer, but some of us didn't.
And so I was like, you know, we're going to
roast Taska exactly. I was, you know, taking over a
company and opening an opera. So I thought I would
really love to be in Italy for the night. So
why not, Tosca Is said in Rome, why not use
this beautiful piazza and fountain we have and just throw
(04:02):
a big policy afterwards. You've just seen the show, and
we're going to have espresso, martinis and ice cream, and
there's going to be a dance band and it's going
to be a whole piazza vibe.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
You know, come out see NB scene, see some people.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
And joining us in the conversation is Emma Rothfield. She
is the number two here at the New Orleans Opera,
and she's she is the person who has come up
with this sort of Audrey Hepburn theme of the evening.
All over local media, we're seeing Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday
as the deffinition. People are calling me and they're like,
did you like reincarnate Audrey Hepburn here at the opera?
(04:38):
I mean, what what is this you've kind of for
this Roman Holiday evening?
Speaker 4 (04:42):
She kind of looks like Audrey Hepburn.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
You you're dress ready?
Speaker 8 (04:46):
I don't have my dress ready, but now I think
I'm going to have to find some sort of Audrey Hepburn,
you know, kind of copy get up thing. But I
also really can't take credit for that. That was very
much Christopher's masterminding. But I'm very flat.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Nonetheless, by the.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Way, my wife is going to really love this now
because she loves Audi Heavorn and she's totally convinced that
our granddaughter is a reincarnation of Arbrey. We've got to
watch every Aubrey Head movie ever made. I'm a great
fan of Aubrey Jah always thought she was one of
most beautiful and lovely actresses of all times.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
And Roman Holiday is the is sort of the perfect
image of a romantic evening a day they're on the
back of that scooter all across Rome. But the point
of this and people are like, well, yeah, okay, so
you're gonna have a party at the Rest at ten
o'clock at ten pm on the twenty seventh after this opera,
But that means I got to go to an opera.
(05:41):
And the fact is I could try to tell them
and we'll demonstrate it in a way that you guys
have never thought about in just a couple of minutes.
But the opera Tosca that's coming in the twenty seventh,
then we want to say for those that don't want
to do night, it's also going to be a two
thirty in the afternoon on the twenty ninth Sunday, And
you can find out all this information at New Orleans
Opera dot org who owns opera dot org for pre
(06:02):
tickets to this but the night in Italy promotion where
it's one hundred dollars for two people to go to
this party afters What I keep telling people is is
something you said, if you like Les Miserabla, if you
like these romantic stories about you, know, somebody coming between
two passionate lovers, and you know, Casa Blanca. It is
the It is literally Rome eighteen hundred Casa Blanca. And
(06:24):
that's not a bad comparison because you've got the looming
Napoleon Bonaparte, you've got the bad the sort of corrupt
police agent and all this, and it's it is a
tale so contemporary. When you go see it, you're like,
wait a second, this could be something going on right now.
And so tell us about Tosca and.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
The way when the night's all over and everybody's gone home,
where do we go to? The Napoleon house? Just a
couple of blocks away?
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Now we go ahead.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
It's almost like we planned it.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Yeah, there is.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
So Tosca, man, I mean the cliff notes version is,
you know, that's it. If you like Casablanca, if you
like the Lives of Others, if you like film noir,
that's it. It's the Beautiful Diva. It was a hit
play actually before it was an opera. It's been made
into Hollywood movies like six times because it's just a
really cool story. It's really short.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
For an opera.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
It's actually under two hours, so short of than a
lot of movies without intermission. So it really like you
just get stuck in and it grabs you by the
throat and where you go.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
So, I mean, it's just a strong.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
Character, it's a big love story, it's politics, it's corruption.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
The point is it's not boring.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
It's definitely definitely not boring. You will not have the
opportunity to go to sleep.
Speaker 7 (07:33):
Now tell me will it be in English or day.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
It will be in Italian. But we do have an opera.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
We call them sur titles, but everyone else calls them subtitles.
I think we should just give in and start calling
them subtitles. But you will understand what's happening. And frankly,
even if you don't fancy reading, it's pretty easy to follow.
The music is telling you what is happening all the time.
It's just like a film score.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The opera Tosca, of course, is going to be on
the twenty seventh at the Mahei Jackson Theater, and this
whole evening afterwards, as we've discussed, there's going to be
a party on the piazza, and not only is are
there going to be coffee, martinis and Riccado's Italian ice.
I know all that's coming, but you actually have a
band there and they're not just playing traditional and as
they're playing everything up to including Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra,
(08:17):
so you can dance under the moonlight and the whole works.
It's a perfect Roman evening. Lyla Palmer, General Artistic Director
of the New Orleans Opera, joining Hi mcchenry and Christopher Tidmore,
and we're sort of talking about this tradition and Tosca.
You know, I've looked at it and it's been performed
multiple times over the last century here in New Orleans,
and it's part of that tradition of great opera being
(08:40):
being presented here, premiered here in many cases. And how
is it coming taking over a company in the first
city of opera, the place where opera started in North
America in seventeen ninety six.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
I was so excited to take over here because of
that tradition. You know, when you think you might be
moving to a city, you start doing a deep die
right and squirreling around looking for him. And as I
as I started reading the history of opera in the city,
I was like, crumbs, this is incredible, Like, how is
it possible? That I didn't know that most of the
things that are on main opera stages, the things that
(09:12):
are that are performed multiple times a year, whether that's
Barber or A Lucia or any of those, they all
premiered here. They all started here, and the relationship between
the continent and the kind of creative activity here has
been so it's like it's like opera in America and
opera in Europe have had this like incredible creative I
(09:35):
don't know, creative baby in New Orleans. And that's that's
the history. So if you want to understand this incredible
art form and this international art form that brings so
many artists and creatives and stories together in all these languages,
like it's kind of like a metaphor for New Orleans.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
It's like it's.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Perfect, wonderful, fantastic couple things. One comment, I can't wait
for the show after the night in Rome. After that
sounds like and only for one hundred bucks for this
the whole package, that's astounding.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
How do you do it? And it's amazing. It's got
to be one of the greatest bargains in the city.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Editor, Well, it.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Kind of is, and it was designed that way.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
You know, I figure people don't necessarily have time to
get to you know, they're working, they don't necessarily have
time to get to dinner beforehand. But if we have
some little nibbles and a little drink and all the things,
you know, it's easy.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
You just show up and you park, and you let
us sweep you away.
Speaker 7 (10:25):
And let me tell you, that is New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You just harmly don't go to anything New Orleans without
a party attached to it some kind of way, and
with lots of fine drinking, like you know, the great
martinis and all that stuff you were just talking about.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
It sounds fantastic.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
I mean, that's a tradition I can definitely get on
board with.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Right.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
My next question is who are the actors from? Where
do they hail?
Speaker 6 (10:47):
All over the country, and some of them are returning
to us, and some of them are brand new. So
Melody More is singing Tosca, she sung Tosca nationally, and
Edwin Jamal is also making a company debut with us.
But the rest of the cast, some of them are locals.
We're really fortunate to have them again. Ivan Griffin is
singing the Sacristan.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
He's local. He's a wonderful, wonderful artist.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
We're so fortunate to have these people like at our fingertips.
Dominic Cheney is coming to us from Las Vegas, but
it is singing nationally as well. Melody has been called
kind of a revelation and a kind of an absolute star,
and her Tosca is particularly renowned. So this is a
really exciting opportunity for us to have her. She's coming
(11:33):
back from La Opera singing Aida the role of am neris,
so we're really we're really fortunate to bring her here.
And I'm so proud because this opera company has a
real tradition of not only kind of generating and developing
huge operatic stars. You know, the most recent and probably
most famous, of course is Loztte Oropesa. But before that,
(11:53):
you know, in the seventies and in the eighties and
even earlier, you know, it's kind of a it's a
debrettz or a who's few of great opera singers.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
And I'm really proud to continue that tradition here.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Lyla Palmer, general Artistic Director of the New Orleans Opera,
is joining Hi mckenry Christopher Tidmore here on The Founder
Show on wa wr and O and WSLA, And we're
talking about the opera Tosca, which is premiering on the
twenty seventh Friday night, September this coming Friday. Follow up
Mattinee performance on Sunday at two thirty on the twenty ninth.
But for everyone who's really wants the perfect date night,
(12:26):
what I was referencing is you're going for one hundred dollars.
Two people not only get to go to the opera,
but have coffee martiniz and Angelo Bricado, ice cream, and
party in dancing in front of the fountains, all inclusive
for one price. And it's to try to bring people Lylah.
I think it's very important that may never have been
to an opera maybe find this entire opera idea daunting
(12:48):
and remind them that opera used to be a very
popular venue. It was something that people went to. It's
this is I mean, this is about love story and
betrayal everything. This is something that connects to the average person.
It shouldn't be this terrifying idea. In fact, it should
be fun, romantic and well roman.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
You know, I love that, and I think it's worth saying.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Whenever critics are snotty about something, it's usually because it's
wildly successful and people think it's really good fun. And
critics have been snatty about Tosca in the past because
it's just engaging and direct, and.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
You know, it has I call me old fashioned.
Speaker 6 (13:23):
I really love a hummable tune, you know, and Tosca
has some of the greatest ones. So I feel like
it has all of the ingredients that people are looking for.
You know, you're coming out and you're singing, you know,
and that's that's what you want, right.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
I can't wait to hear one of the tunes. I mean,
do we have anything here, Christopher that's going to be fun.
And by the way, this is another interesting point about
New Orleans. One of the greatest opera singers ever of
all times came out of New Orleans, and that I
believe it was the late fifties or early sixties. At seventeen,
she was shocking audiences at the Newman Pops, packing the
(14:01):
whole auditorium just to come here to this one little
gal saying she she was still in high school. And
the next year she went to New York to you know,
sing at the met and be part of that whole
opera community there and develop her career, and it was
very promising. But a year later she came home broke
her father's heart. Broke his heart. This was his special child.
(14:23):
He had ten kids, by the way, and they all
did very well in life, but he was devastated over
how what happened to her. What happened was she was
lonely for New Orleans. She was a true New Orleans.
New Orleans women always come back up there. Where they go,
where they end up, they end up dragging her husbands.
If their husband's from Austrey, he's the next thing, you know,
he's gonna be living back in New Orleans. And and
(14:45):
so she was kind of like that, I guess she
could say. And she went to Loyola, and nobody knew
what was gonna happen. They kind of thought she'd just disappear.
Speaker 7 (14:51):
Well lo and behold. It wasn't too long there after.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
She ended up becoming one of Louisiana's Supreme Court justice.
And I'm talking about Janette Terio nol I know she
will love this. And most of her they were all
all the kids were very talented. I mean they had
remarkable talent and they would sing in you know, weddings,
you know, opera style, and so I know that we're
(15:17):
probably go I bet you they can't wait to come
see this and hear this.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
I love that because it really speaks to the absolutely
kind of overwhelming set of skills that opera singers actually
have to have. You know, it looks very glamorous, and
it can be really glamorous, and it's fabulous travel and
there's you know, lots of interesting, fascinating people and fantastic
music and wonderful colleagues. And also you know, you're singing
(15:42):
in at least four languages as.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
If not five or six.
Speaker 6 (15:46):
You know, you're watching a conductor, you're moving, you're doing.
I like to say that opera singers are vocal athletes.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
You know, they're they're projecting their.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Voices over a two hundred piece orchestra unamplified. We are
not amplifying them. It's like the heavy lifting, you know,
or the Olympics of singing, which is something that I
think people really value in a city that cares about artistry,
that cares about the craft of music making. You know,
these are incredible, incredible artists that have all of these
(16:16):
different skills, linguistics, business especially today, all of these artists
are entrepreneurs.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
That's fascinating to talk to.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Well, La La Palmer, this is the art of opera
New Orleans. We're going to talk about how opera actually
influenced every other musical form in New Orleans all too,
including jazz and rock and roll. But the best way,
Emma roth Field, that I think I can explain.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
How opera influenced this is Tosca's.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Had many influences when we think of the hyads, but
this is an influence which of a song everyone will recognize.
It's not the words from Tosca, but it's the melody.
Set this up for us if you would this high
brow music we're.
Speaker 8 (16:51):
About to so, speaking as our resident gen Zer, many
people might think that being a gen zer and being
an opera lover may not go together, might seem a
little incongruous, But surprisingly, I think that a lot of
people of my generation know a lot more about opera
than they might think they do. Chief example, among you
(17:13):
know that sort of idea is actually in the movie
Happy Feet Too, which is a beloved animated movie of
my childhood. I believe in the first movie the whole
deal is that it's, you know, a colony of penguins,
and I think they're all supposed to be really great singers,
(17:33):
and there's this little, you know, baby penguin who, hence
the title happy Feet, is actually a really great dancer,
and so they decide to reverse that for the sequel.
I really hope I am remembering this correctly. It has
been a number of years since I've seen it in full.
But if you do, I'm sure I do apologize.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
To La political commented.
Speaker 8 (17:56):
But in Happy Feet too, you know, I can't exactly
remember the plot points that lead up to this, but
certainly a lot of singers of my generation will know
the scene in which I think his name is Eric.
This baby penguin bursts out into a rendition of one
of Mario Cavrodossi, who is the romantic lead of Tosca
(18:18):
his famous arias in defense of his father penguin against
a like a giant pack of walruses. Yeah, and so
this should actually be quite familiar to you.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Happy Feet too, folks. You can see how opera it
is to hear the original come on the twenty seventh,
but to hear this, folks, that you might recognize this
(18:56):
Penguins sound is one of those moments where, folks, the
(19:35):
radio doesn't do justice to what we're watching on the screen.
When when you have when you have the penguin doing
this incredible you know, high end aria and all this,
But I got to tell you it's something that Puccini
would have found absolutely wonderful. Because we think of, you know,
the opera conductors and composers as these stalwart people.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
They're anything but.
Speaker 8 (20:00):
And if anyone has seen the movie Amadaeis, it tells
you everything you need to know about Mozart. He was
a fun loving guy. I mean historically again speaking as.
Speaker 7 (20:09):
A very fun loving guy.
Speaker 8 (20:10):
Yes, a very fun loving guy to say the least,
But I mean opera has historically been an art form
of the young, surrounded by parties. Everything that we're trying
to do with Knight in Italy, that's actually what opera
has historically been all about. We're sort of trying to
bring back sort of the historical experimentalism that has always
been a part of opera, especially here in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And folks, again to reiterate, but make a little more detailed,
by the way, real quickly, Jeanette Terryo. Noah was my
first cousin is my first cousin, and my mother was
a terio occasion gal.
Speaker 7 (20:41):
That's how I know this story firsthand.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I remember Uncle Busser all upset that, you know, his
daughter had given up on her career. She still sings
though she's great. We had to get her to participate.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
In the same But one of the things I do
want to get into is the you're hitting it Lyla Palmer,
the idea that a lot of these melodies are our
actual music that people have heard so many times, and
it's not just killed the Rabbit, and you know in
that for the ring cycle, it's actually.
Speaker 7 (21:10):
We used to say that it was a look at
all the time.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
These aren't actually parts of our culture, and that's kind
of something I want to talk about in our second segment.
But you you have you made an observation as we
go into this break that I thought was really insightful
about opera singers in New Orleans. They're kind of different
because we have a great opera singers, but they actually
cross disciplines. They're innovative in ways that people in opera
(21:35):
tend to say, are, well, you shouldn't do that. But
it's actually back to the original traditions. Can you talk
about that and the effects of the assault of the city.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Yeah, absolutely, so I was.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
I was reflecting on this the other day because my husband,
who is a conductor, works a lot in early music
and he also works in very contemporary music, so kind
of at both ends of the spectrum, and we were
talking about the way singers traditionally learned to improve in
early music and early opera. You know, they would learn
kind of how to improvise a scale or improvise an
(22:05):
ornament based on this kind of framework you know that
the composer had laid out, which I'm sure to your
jazz listeners is sounding pretty familiar, you know, so those
early operas that you would have seen, and that continues
even into handle, which is starting to be relatively structured.
You know, you have all of this invention and a
sense of play that the singers are really activated inventing
(22:27):
creatives along with the kind of original composers, and that
kind of tradition got a little bit lost and a
lot of people don't there There are some groups who
still do that now, but not as many. And what
to me is interesting is, you know, we have this
right now in America. I don't know, I don't know
how many me know this. But in North America we're
seeing this giant resurgence of new opera commissioning, new operas
(22:52):
being written, many new composers who are coming from other
worlds other than traditional class music, and so they're writing idiomatically,
and they're writing in this way that invites engagement from
the performer, that invites them to improvise and to add
and to bring their own musicality and their own creativity.
(23:13):
But our classical music institutions haven't necessarily caught up with that,
or rather come back round to that yet. But in
New Orleans you have these singers who, because of the
incredible inventive, creative multiplicity of musical styles that you absorb
being a native of the city, they are opera singers
who are so ofa with singing, jazz, with singing, all
(23:36):
these different musical styles. And you throw something at them,
you throw them acord and you say can you just
improvise something on this?
Speaker 5 (23:42):
They will do it, and they can do it in
any style you want.
Speaker 6 (23:45):
So we have this potential engine, I think for returning
to the historical experimentalism of opera here and really creating
this engine of local talent to feed a national and
international industry which is wildly ec.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Can the first city of opera, folks, be the birthplace
of new operas for the whole world. That's the question
we're going to pose in the second segment here on
the Founder's Show, Final thoughts before we go on the break.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Hih Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you need to remember this
for those who love music, I think everybody does, has
a very powerful effect on down to our soul in
the spirit. I'm a preacher giving you this message right now.
And do you know that all of the great rock
and roll and so many other types of genres of
(24:31):
music that we have in our world today, so many
of them, those musicians, those singers, they had their beginnings
in classical music because it is such a superior form
of music and there's something that developed in the nowhere else,
and because of that, it has made Western music the
rage around the world. I'm talking about classical music. I'm
(24:54):
talking about harmony that the other cultures did not have,
but Europe did have of it, for starting with Bach.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
I disagree they didn't have it.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
They had in different ways, but not quite the levels
of syncopation that we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I mean, it's more of a minor thing. We're the
ones who made it, put it up front harmony.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
I think.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
But I think those different musical traditions coming together create something.
That's what we're starting to see in music, that actual
traditions that we did not think were part of. It
is enriching not just opera but all musical forms. In fact,
it's in enriching opera itself.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
And my my husband's family, my husband husband is a
biracial kid. His parents, his mother is from India, and
you know, he's been playing Brahms and Chopin and all
of those things since he was a little.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Kid, you know.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
And he and you know, when people pose him the question, well,
how come there aren't many more South Asians and classical music,
he says, well, because we have our own. So I
think it's you know, one of the opportunities here is
that because so many different different countries and folks of
different you know, extractions ended up here. That's why we
have this super super vibrant melting pot of musical excellence here.
(26:03):
And the excellence and the traditions of many, many cultures
coming together. But right now we have the benefit obviously
of using this Western form and many and everybody's kind
of perspective and cultural heritage finding its way through and
into it and enriching the form itself, which is tremendously exciting.
And I would say that is an ultimately American project.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
And I want to talk about the ultimately American project
because Opera New Orleans is born, believe it or not,
from San doming from Haiti and the people that came in.
We're going to talk a little bit about the history
of why opera was given to America through this great
Crescent City and how that birthed jazz and rock and
roll as we know it. After this commercial break, we're
joined by Leila Palmer, she's General Artistic Director of the
(26:47):
New Orleans Opera and m Rothfield, she's the executive here
at the New Orleans Opera. Hi McKenney, Christopher Tidmore. Back
after these important messages, stay.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
Tuned, rescue, recovery, re engagement. These are not just words.
These are the action steps we at the New Orleans
Mission take to make a positive impact on the homeless
problem facing the greater New Orleans area. Did you know
(27:15):
in twenty twenty, homelessness in our community increased by over
forty percent. We are committed to meet this need through
the work being done at the New Orleans Mission.
Speaker 5 (27:27):
We begin the.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
Rescue process by going out into the community every day
to bring food, pray, and share the love of Jesus
with the hopeless and hurting in our community. Through the
process of recovery, these individuals have the opportunity to take
time out, assess their life, and begin to make new
decisions to live out their God given purpose. After the
(27:51):
healing process has begun and lives are back on track,
we walk each individual as they re engage back into
the community to be healthy, thriving, and living a life
of purpose. No one is meant to live under a bridge.
No one should endure abuse, No one should be stuck
in addiction. The New Orleans Mission is a stepping stone
(28:14):
out of that life of destruction and into a life
of hope and purpose. Partner with us today go to
www dot New Orleans Mission dot org or make a
difference by texting to seven seven nine four eight.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Well Heidi, folks, It's Chaplinhei mchinry and I'm here. To
tell you about our ministry, LAMB Ministries. We're an inter
city ministry with an interescity formula and focus for inner
city folks. This is a challenge in ministry, but we've
seen so many great things coming from it. We've seen
kids that would have never had a chance in life
get college degrees, get great careers, and do things with
(28:54):
their lives that would have never done before. We need
all the help we can get, folks. We need financial support,
we need volunteers, and we need prayer warriors. So if
you have any interest, please go to our website lamnola
dot com or just call me chaplain Hi mckenry at
five zero four seven two three nine three six nine
and again that's l A m B n O l
(29:15):
A dot com and thank you so very very much.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Give the gift of flowers by calling Villaries Florist at
one eight hundred VI I L E ri E or
Villariesflorist dot com for all of your floral needs. We're
coming up into the autumnal season. Ultimal baskets are available
at wonderful prices delivered straight to your door. Perfect Halloween gift.
Give them a call Villaries one eight hundred VI l
l eri E or Villariesflores dot com on the web
(29:38):
and turn tell them you heard it here in the
Founder's Show.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Well, folks are back and you are listening to the
Founder Show. The voice of the Founding follows and we
want you to know. You can hear this show every
Sunday morning from eight to nine am on wrn O
that's ninety nine point five on your FM do or
you can hear us during the week Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Fridays,
Wednesdays and Mondays drive time eight to nine am on
WSLA on one five six zero on the AM dial
(30:10):
or ninety three point nine on the FMDAL. And then
if you're way out west on the west end of
the rest rim of the Grand Canyon, you can hear
us on Rattlesnake Radio. This is an exciting show, folks,
with a number one rated weekend show on WRNO the
Weekend Show and which is one of the largest talk
show stations of Gossau. And to make this easy, just
get the iHeartMedia app with one of the top shows
(30:32):
with iHeartMedia, the largest broadcasting company in the world, and
you can get for free. It's free and then you
can listen to us at your convenience. You don't have
to get up at eight o'clock in the morning and
listen to us, just when you want to listen to us.
And so it's a great opp And you can also
go to our website, the foundershow dot com and this
is none other. Then you spend Gary Baybay all the
Republic Chapelain Hig McHenry with.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Christopher Tidmore and we are talking to the general and
Artistic director of the New Orleans Arbretllila Palmer and m
rol Field, executive here at the New World's Opera. And
one thing I want to get into is creativity and opera.
And it's not easy to write an opera. You've written
multiple operas. In fact, The New York Times just caused
your premiere of American Apollo at the Des Moines Metro
(31:17):
Fest this past summer as one of the greatest entries
that into in the North American opera scene in decades.
That was action actual quote coming out of The Times.
You premiered this multimillion dollar production, But it was an
incredible story about a name of someone that we would
be familiar with here in New Orleans. Can we talk
(31:38):
about your own production that just came this summer?
Speaker 6 (31:41):
Absolutely well, thank you for giving me that opportunity. We
did have very generous press. I don't remember all of
the reviews because I try not to read them. Once
I've decided that this landed well, then I just stopped
reading them. Otherwise you have to read the bad reviews too,
and that's terrible. But there weren't actually that many of
those anyway. So American Apollo yees creativity in opera. I've written,
(32:02):
I guess twenty five operas.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Now, But this was this is the point where Hi
and I start looking at her shoes and saying, what
have we done with our lives?
Speaker 6 (32:12):
I mean probably go out and smelled the roses a
bit more than me at.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Such a young age. This is amazing, I mean absolutely amazing.
I have a question about with this what we're talking
about right now, and that is, is there any way
this could be the beginning of re establishing NU Orleans
as one of the theater centers of America.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
As the place where new operas are being premiered.
Speaker 6 (32:32):
Oh, you know, I would love that. But I think
I'm very honest about that. You know, I think the thing.
I was listening to someone on the radio this morning, actually,
and I I've been very honest about my standards for
new work. So you know, you don't get a Mozart
or a Puccini without giving them a shot, without giving
new creatives a shot. You have to create new work,
(32:54):
but you also have to create the conditions for new work.
So I've written about twenty five operas. I will tell
you that the piece that premiered this summer was the
longest I have ever had to write an opera, and
that was four years, and we needed every single day
of that time. And even still I would like to
tweak it. You know, Broadway shows, you know, they're they're
(33:14):
made over years and then they are previewed from multiple audiences.
They get workshop after workshop. You know, it's really they
get a lot of time to develop. Operas cost a
vast amount of money, but you get very little development time.
So in fact, there was another article in a newspaper
this week with another creative team who were just saying,
you know, we come from musical theater. We were so
(33:36):
shocked it was our third draft on stage. And I
was like, you're lucky it was your third draft. Sunshine.
So but to answer your question, Christopher, yes, the opera
that I recently had up this summer featured the a
central character of John Singer Sargent, who obviously is known
mostly to New Orleans as the painter who created Madame
X and scandalize the Gaultier family. So yes, he redeemed
(34:01):
himself after that. But this story was about John Singer
Sergeant's most important life model in the last decade of
his career, a young man from Wilmington, North Carolina, called
Thomas Eugene mckella, who was a bell hop and was
a kind of early an early migrant in the Great
(34:22):
Migration North. He was from a middle class black family
in Wilmington, and he found himself in Boston in an
elevator with John Singer Sergeant who was in need of
a model. And the story is really a love story.
It has some very contemporary themes, and it also features
a cameo from perhaps my favorite current female historical figure,
(34:43):
Isabella Stuart Gardner, who was one of the first major
art collectors in North America and the only woman going
toe to toe with Rockefeller for a major art collection.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
If you've never been to the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum
in Boston, Messa. It's the only place I've ever seen
that the She didn't convert a house, She built historic
rooms in a museum to reflect the right place to
hang the art. It is an incredible place to go.
Speaker 6 (35:08):
You no, I didn't think about this, but actually connecting
the Night in Italy to Isabella Stuart Gardner makes complete
sense because what she did was she built a palazzo
in Boston for people who didn't go there on the
Grand Tour themselves.
Speaker 5 (35:20):
So we're doing exactly the same thing.
Speaker 6 (35:22):
And I didn't even realize I'd been inspired by Bell
well done.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Which which comes back to the subject of today. So
those just joining us, who you're hearing is Lela Palmer.
She's the general artistic director of the New Orleans Opera
and this coming Friday, September twenty seventh, seven thirty pm,
the opera Tosca's coming in. But you have the chance
to have an entire Roman holiday, an entire night in
Italy by going to New Orleans Opera dot org and
(35:47):
getting the Night in Italy tickets that includes the entire
opera Tosca, as well as the party on the piazza.
Believe it or not, most people don't realize the area
where the fountains are in Armstrong Park is actually called
the piazza and will there will be a full partment
triple the normand Trickle Fiazza to be precise, and that
will be where there will be not just Italian classical music,
(36:10):
but country music and Italian country music, and then all
the way up to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra being
performed with Braccado's Italian ice. Our great contribution to the
city and ideas express of martinis, drinks, the whole works
in full bar. But you for one hundred dollars for
a couple, you get to have an entire Roman holiday
across the entire evening. We highly recommended New Orleans Opera
(36:33):
dot org for more information and to be able to
get those tickets. And it is kind of trying to
bring this sort of atmosphere to it. And that's one
of the things opera does really well because of the
way music goes from one to two to ten to twenty.
More than any other art form, it brings you in
the melodies and the harmonies, brings you into the emotional
(36:54):
state of the performance in a way that all other
forms of music do but don't do to the same extent,
you know, And it's all included the lower price of
one hundred dollars for two. You can find out more
information by calling five O four five two nine three
thousand at the that is the box office for the opera.
But the easiest way is to go to New Orleans
Opera dot Org. Look at the events, click on it,
(37:14):
and just click on a night in Italy and in Hi.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
You got it. This as we as we say.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Lyla Palmer and now m rol Field have been joining
us for this hour.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
And Chris Frock got a big question here, but this
is for the audience. What are we going to do
to make sure this gal has only been with us
for about three months now, this magnificent talent we now
have in New Orleans. How are we going to keep
her here? As soon as she gets discovered? You know,
some of these real rich cities are going to come
try to snager and take her away. So New Orleanians
out there, we need to do something to make sure
(37:45):
we keep this gal with us.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Right.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
The best thing you could do right now is to
go to your phone, go to New Orleans Opera dot
org and buy tickets to Tosca by doing the Night
in Italy promotion dancing under the stars. That's the guaranteed
way of keeping Lyla Palmer and m rol Field here.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
And I'll be there every night, so please come say.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Hi, Amen, Amen, We'll be very We'll be back very
shortly after this brief commercial break for your chaplain by
by Patriotic Moment.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
Satan Wore of the Founder Show.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Right after this to the break some of the music
from the opera Tosca. The foremost gathering place of New
(39:57):
Orleans is the Garden District Bookshop at twenty seven twenty seven,
Britannia in the historic Rink shopping center. Greatest book events
for you to go. If you want to come to
the book shop and just have a cocktail for yes,
there is a bar in the Garden District book Shop.
You can always come every evening till eight pm weekday,
seven pm weekends and think you can always get breakfast
and launch at the chickry house next door. But for
the great book events coming up at the Garden District Bookshop,
(40:20):
they're incredible. Eric Cooks signing his Modern Creole a taste
of New Orleans culture cuisine on September nineteenth. Trip Freelander
is in conversation with Amy on the tunnel in September
twenty fourth, and the famed author Anne Patchett and Robert
Price Greisler are talking about their book The Verts The
Story of Introverts and Extroverts on September twenty fifth at
(40:40):
four point fifteen. And for the Churchill lovers out there,
on October sixth, Sonia Purnell is talking about her new
book on Pamela Churchill Harriman, the daughter in law of
Winston Churchill and of course the architect of Bill Clinton's
victory some forty years later.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
On October sixth.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
More of this and all of these events at Garden
District Bookshe at Gardendistrict Bookshop dot com. And remember Night
in Italy is going to be this Friday, September twenty seventh,
seven thirty pm at Mehay Jackson Theater. If you're not
an Internet savvy you can always call the box office
at five oh four five two nine three thousand to
find out more information. One hundred dollars for a couple
(41:17):
to go to the Opera Tosca and to go to
the Fame party on the Piazza with included expresso martinis
and Roccado's Italian ice and bands and all this this Friday,
September twenty seventh, and for those who want the afternoon
September twenty ninth, matt and a performance at two thirty
pm more at New Orleans Opera Dot Org.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Well, folks, we're back and you're listening to the final show,
and this is none other then you're spend gary by
by all the republic chaplain Highmchenry, and it does not
time for us to go into our chaplain by by
patriotic moment where I just take a brief moment to
give you a little history lesson on the biblical foundations
of our country, our judio Christian jurisprudence. And today we
(41:59):
want to talk about a fabulous American who left a
huge footprint on this country that encouraged all the more
of the Biblical foundations for a country. I'm talking about
none of the than Maheia Jackson, certainly one of the
greatest musicians in the history of America. Maheia Jackson was
born in New Orleans, raised here back in nineteen eleven
(42:21):
and She went on to have one of the greatest
gospel singing careers in the history of this country.
Speaker 7 (42:27):
She was a world traveler.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
They had her all over Europe, all over America, performing
at the biggest and the greatest things going. She never
left her favorite genre, which is gospel music. Now if
the only one with that is I'm talking about African
gospel music. If you go to any great old African
church today, you're going to hear it in acchoir.
Speaker 7 (42:44):
It's awesome.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
If you never get to do that and you go
to the jazz Fest, the largest crowd at the jazz Fest,
not counting the big giant things they do, but as
far as all the tents during the day, throughout the
week or the weekend, you're going to find out that
the largest audio is at the gospel ten. That's African
gospel music. It is African American, it is dynamic, it
(43:07):
is awesome. Well that was her genre, that's what she's saying.
Speaker 7 (43:11):
She had a.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Huge impact and influence on the politics of her day,
the move for integration, you know, the civil rights movement.
She was one of Martin Luther's favorite people. She performed
at inaugurations for JFK. And LBJ and other great politicians.
She had a huge impact on the political nature of
our country. She never left gospel music. They tried to
(43:35):
get her into rock and roll and all these other things,
and even though her music had a huge impact and
influence in rock and role, she would never leave gospel music.
And one of her great sayings was, you just don't
know nothing to you know, Jesus, folks. I think Maheia
Jackson when she was preaching to these politicians, was making
it clear to them we needed God in government.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
But what about you?
Speaker 7 (43:55):
Do you have God in you?
Speaker 2 (43:57):
That's the most important thing of all, because you know
you could but come one of the greatest political, patriotic,
gospel Bible based politicians of all times, patriots of all times,
and still die and go to hell. And if you
did that, what was the point of it all? You
missed the greatest of all. You missed the Gospel, the
very thing Meheia Jackson was singing about. So I'm going
(44:20):
to show you now and again it won't take long.
How you can know for sure that when you die,
you're going to heaven. You're God's child, and remember God
on any grandchildren. So Billy Graham's children could never get
in on Billy Graham. They had to get in on
themselves their personal connection with God.
Speaker 7 (44:36):
It's like that for all of us, folks. God only
has children.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
This is how you can become a child of God,
just like Meheia Jackson was born into poverty, no hope
for any kind of future, and became one of the
greatest musicians in the history of the twentieth century. I mean,
and you know, by the way, she's also buried here,
and we know she's in glory right now. So this
is how you can know that you can be in
glory forever. That means going to heaven, folks. The Bible says,
(45:02):
for God so loved the world, that's you. In fact,
that's everybody. That he gave his only begotten son. And
now that's the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man,
all the way God and all the way man. He
gave his only begotten son. That whosoever that's you again,
believeth in him. Well, okay, now what does that mean?
Believeth in him? It could mean all kinds of things. Wait, good,
(45:24):
So this is what you need to believe. The scripture says,
the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to
whosoever believeth. The word gospel, just plain and simply translated English,
means good news.
Speaker 7 (45:34):
That's all it means. It's a simple concept.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Great news, glad tidings, great news, that's what it means.
So the scripture says, for that great news, the gospel
is the power of God under salvation to whosoever believeth.
Speaker 7 (45:48):
And then what is the gospel? What is that good news?
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Well, it tells us in First Corinthians chapter fifteen, For
I declare unto you the gospel that Christ died for
all of our sins according to the scripture, that he
was buried, and that he rose from the dead according
to the scripture. Now I'm gonna paraphrase, and that whosilver
believeth in this great Gospel message is gonna be safe
from hell and guaranteed evan, folks, it's that simple. That
(46:12):
whosoever believeth in him. We're back to John three sixteen.
Whosoever believeth that He died for all your sins and
was barion roseman. That who's ever believed you gotta believe it, folks,
that whosoever believeth in this shall not perish, not go
to hell, but have everlasting life. That's John three sixteen.
That is the most popular verse for people who have
come to Christ, and we recorded the history of the Church.
(46:35):
Is something very powerful, that one little verse. That's why
one of the names, one of John's name is he
has more names than any of the other apostles. He's
known as John the Evangelist, John the Revelator, John the Beloved.
He's got lots of interesting names. He's also known as
John the Son of Thunder. He had a lot of
interesting names. He was Jesus's probably closest friend, who wrote
(46:56):
the Gospel of John, from which I just quoted. So, folks,
you gotta believe. It boils down that believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and that was saved. Now that belief
has broken into two things, two types of belief.
Speaker 7 (47:08):
You need to have. Jesus kept saying repent and believe,
Repent and believe.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
So what are those two things, Well, the first thing
is repentance. It is your part of your belief, your
faith in God. Believe that you can't save yourself, that
you're never going to be good enough, smart enough, religious enough,
righteous enough, holy, enough, whatever enough your good works, your
righteous subscription, says, is as filthy ranks to God.
Speaker 7 (47:32):
We're just not good enough for God.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
So don't worry about it.
Speaker 7 (47:35):
It doesn't matter. He still loves you no matter what.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
He loves you with all his heart, the Bible says,
and he just wants you to love him back with
all your heart. And the way you do that is
you believe you can't save yourself. Now at that point
your heart is fully, fully committed to God. And so
with all your heart now you can believe that Jesus
really did die for all your sins, was buried in
Roseam dead, and you have absolutely nothing to do with
that great work. He's the only one who could do
the great work on the cross when he died for
(47:57):
your sins in Roasmam dead. The only thing you can
do is us to him with the faith a little child,
and that's all he wants from you, and then with
that you get his righteousness. The Bible says, he that
knew no sin, meaning Jesus, was mad. It made into
all of the horrible, terrible things you, me and everybody
else has ever done. He was turned into that sin
was maidens, and that you might be made the righteousness
(48:18):
of God in him. He takes all your bed to
give you all his good You get all of his
righteousness the split second. You believe with the faith of
a little child. If you've never done it before, please
do it now. Don't wait till it's too late. Like
the old country preacher said, and like the scripture says,
now today is the day of salvation. Believe right now,
please with all your heart, that Jesus died for all
(48:38):
of your sins, was buried and rose from the dead. Well, folks,
it's not time for us to go in our final
little section called the chaplain by Bah Watchman on the Wall. Now,
last week we did testimony time, and I told you
all about Martin Delorel, what an amazing man he was,
how his funeral was one of the most astounding funerals
I've ever been to. And it showed a man that
was a man that was such a friend. I don't
(49:00):
think I've ever known a person that could say this
truly was a man that was a friend wherever he went.
Everybody the church was over. I've never seen so many people.
Everybody there had a story about him. The verse that
came to my mind. This scrip says he that would
have friends must show himself friendly. Well, Martin knew how
to do that, and he did it all the time.
He did it because he loved God. I had some
good personal talks with him and I know that. But
(49:21):
now it's time for us to go into our watchmen
on the wall, and he was watching. He was waiting
for Jesus to come back. We're all supposed to be
doing that because the Bible says we're to do that.
Jesus said, you'd be waiting watching because I'm coming. I'm
showing you all the signs. They're over two hundred signs.
Now I'm going to give you one of the signs
he said. He said there'd be earthquakes in the end
in divers place. That means they're gonna be a lot
of earthquakes, folks. Do you know that up until the
(49:41):
turn of the century and going into the twentieth century,
about one hundred years ago.
Speaker 7 (49:45):
Up until that time, there.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
Were only about a dozen earthquakes every year, and then
when something happened in the seventies had picked up and
there were forty five hundred earthquakes all around the world.
Do you know how many earthquakes they're having now close
to five thousand earthquakes a year all around the world.
There's a ten thousand percent increase in earthquakes. That was
one of the signs that's never happened before in the
(50:08):
history of the world. You know how we know that
geology It tells you how often we've had earthquakes in
the past. You just study the earth'squake, I mean a
crust and you can find out how many earthquakes we
had we've had over the centuries, over the millennia. So, folks,
Jesus is coming back soon and we got very little time.
And so if you want to get ready for this
apocalyptic age that's bearing down upon us right now, rapidly coming.
(50:32):
Jesus said it would come rapidly in the end, you
got to get ready. You need a bunker, You need
something to hide in because it's going to get that bad.
And I'm gonna give you the best bunker you can
ever get. It's called the Jesus Christ Bunker. All you
got to do is believe that He died for your
sins in Rosemond dead and he is your safe house.
He is your bunker. You have no worries, No worries, folks.
So if you've never done that before, do it now.
(50:55):
I believe that Jesus really did die for your sins
in Roseman Dead. Well, it's not time for us to close,
as we close with the Monk st Martin. Nope, nope, nope,
not her mind, but he would love this. We're gonna
close with Tosca, one of the greatest operas New Orleans
ever had, and it's coming soon, folks.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
Let it rip, Maestro, come join us September twenty seven,
seven thirty More information at New Orleans Opera dot org
and you'll find hear this.
Speaker 10 (51:25):
Noityy.
Speaker 7 (51:57):
But wait, wait, wait, folks, it's not over yet. That's right.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
For the lighter side of opera, I have a wonderful
clip here. I'm gonna play for me Tom and Jerry
singing figurero one of my favorite tunes. And by the way,
all his Baby Boomers and even Christopher's generations Generation X
we heard these cartoons when we were young and we
loved them. So here's a little bit of figure from
Tom and Jerry.
Speaker 11 (52:25):
Got you Got, You Got, you got, you got all,
he got all Lah you go to a quah you la.
Speaker 3 (53:11):
Problem, A problem.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
Wow, what fun we had when we were kids. We
even were in the opera. How about that, folks. Well
it's about time for us to go finally, and so folks,
that's all and we'll see you on the next show.
Bid holes, the politicians addressed, the digitators and magicians. Who's
to see the money? Then you don't, there's nothing to
feel the holes while then are feeling their high kits
tied holes, the politicians bouncing down the road every bersition.
(00:23):
With no more corruption and dysfunction, It's gone to take it.
Divide in avention.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And God bless all out there. You are now listening
to the founders, show the voice of the founding fathers.
You're Founding Fathers coming to you deep within the bowels
of those mystic and cryptic alligator swamps of the BAGHASI
that old Crescent City, New Orleans, Louisiana, and high up
on top of that old Liberty Cypress tree way out
(00:52):
on the Eagles Branch. This is none other then you
spend gary by by the republic Chaplain High mceinry.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
With Christopher Tidmore, your roving reporter, resident radical moderate and
associate editor of the Louisiana Weekly newspaper at Louisiana Weekly
dot net. And ladies and gentlemen, we are the first
city of Opera. Opera came to New Orleans in seventeen
ninety six. We premiered literally dozens of international shows in
the North American continent. We were the center of it.
(01:21):
And the fact is it's kind of disconnected from all
of us, yet it's the underpinning of so much of
our music, not just our classical music, but our popular
music down to as you will see some of the
cartoons that your kids and grandkids listen to. It is
something that New Orleans gave to the United States, and
New Orleans is giving and continues to give because joining
(01:43):
Hi McHenry and Christopher Tidmore on this edition of The
Founder's Show is the brilliantly talented Lelah Palmer. She's a
librettis that's opera speak for. She writes operas, she creates
and conducts, and had just had one premier this past
summer at the Des Moines MetroWest called American Apollo.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We'll talk about a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
But she is the new artistic and general director of
the New Orleans Opera. She is bringing a breath of
fresh air into the New Orleans Opera and she's actually
giving us an evening in Roma, a night in Italy
coming up just this coming Friday, the twenty seventh, and Elila.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Before we start talking, the.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Bigger ideas of how important opera is and why we're
doing all of this. Let's do a shameless plug for
the fact that you're putting together an evening much unlike
anybody who here in New Orleans has done before. It's
the actual perfect date night, the Roman Holiday. We'll talk
about this.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
I love that well.
Speaker 6 (02:43):
First of all, thank you so much for having me,
Christopher and high It's such an honor to be here.
And I think this is my first radio interview in
New Orleans.
Speaker 5 (02:50):
Sousrah.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
How many times have we been the first on major
events in this city. I'm telling you, it's what's setting
records here, by the way, with the number one rated
weekend show on.
Speaker 7 (03:00):
W R and No.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
One of the top talk show stations in the Golf South.
So we're making a splash. We got a huge audience,
and thank you all for listening.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
He doesn't mention the first time. We did all the
bad things the first time too, but go ahead and.
Speaker 7 (03:12):
Never do that, especially in politics.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
You know, it's the task of the innovator, right, you
have to take some risks. And well, thank you for
mentioning that.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
In Italy.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
You know, I'm a young mom, young family, just move
down here, really enjoying the city.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
But listen, I kind of know how it is.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
You know, I know that it costs you twenty bucks
an hour to get out of the house with a babysitter.
So one of the things that I wanted to do was,
you know, I always want a glam date night with
my husband, and.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I figure, like, let's make it easy for people.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
And you know, some of us made it over to
Italy to the Riviera this summer, but some of us didn't.
And so I was like, you know, we're going to
roast Taska exactly. I was, you know, taking over a
company and opening an opera. So I thought I would
really love to be in Italy for the night. So
why not, Tosca Is said in Rome, why not use
this beautiful piazza and fountain we have and just throw
(04:02):
a big policy afterwards. You've just seen the show, and
we're going to have espresso, martinis and ice cream, and
there's going to be a dance band and it's going
to be a whole piazza vibe.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
You know, come out see NB scene, see some people.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
And joining us in the conversation is Emma Rothfield. She
is the number two here at the New Orleans Opera,
and she's she is the person who has come up
with this sort of Audrey Hepburn theme of the evening.
All over local media, we're seeing Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday
as the deffinition. People are calling me and they're like,
did you like reincarnate Audrey Hepburn here at the opera?
(04:38):
I mean, what what is this you've kind of for
this Roman Holiday evening?
Speaker 4 (04:42):
She kind of looks like Audrey Hepburn.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
You you're dress ready?
Speaker 8 (04:46):
I don't have my dress ready, but now I think
I'm going to have to find some sort of Audrey Hepburn,
you know, kind of copy get up thing. But I
also really can't take credit for that. That was very
much Christopher's masterminding. But I'm very flat.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Nonetheless, by the.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Way, my wife is going to really love this now
because she loves Audi Heavorn and she's totally convinced that
our granddaughter is a reincarnation of Arbrey. We've got to
watch every Aubrey Head movie ever made. I'm a great
fan of Aubrey Jah always thought she was one of
most beautiful and lovely actresses of all times.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
And Roman Holiday is the is sort of the perfect
image of a romantic evening a day they're on the
back of that scooter all across Rome. But the point
of this and people are like, well, yeah, okay, so
you're gonna have a party at the Rest at ten
o'clock at ten pm on the twenty seventh after this opera,
But that means I got to go to an opera.
(05:41):
And the fact is I could try to tell them
and we'll demonstrate it in a way that you guys
have never thought about in just a couple of minutes.
But the opera Tosca that's coming in the twenty seventh,
then we want to say for those that don't want
to do night, it's also going to be a two
thirty in the afternoon on the twenty ninth Sunday, And
you can find out all this information at New Orleans
Opera dot org who owns opera dot org for pre
(06:02):
tickets to this but the night in Italy promotion where
it's one hundred dollars for two people to go to
this party afters What I keep telling people is is
something you said, if you like Les Miserabla, if you
like these romantic stories about you, know, somebody coming between
two passionate lovers, and you know, Casa Blanca. It is
the It is literally Rome eighteen hundred Casa Blanca. And
(06:24):
that's not a bad comparison because you've got the looming
Napoleon Bonaparte, you've got the bad the sort of corrupt
police agent and all this, and it's it is a
tale so contemporary. When you go see it, you're like,
wait a second, this could be something going on right now.
And so tell us about Tosca and.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
The way when the night's all over and everybody's gone home,
where do we go to? The Napoleon house? Just a
couple of blocks away?
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Now we go ahead.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
It's almost like we planned it.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Yeah, there is.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
So Tosca, man, I mean the cliff notes version is,
you know, that's it. If you like Casablanca, if you
like the Lives of Others, if you like film noir,
that's it. It's the Beautiful Diva. It was a hit
play actually before it was an opera. It's been made
into Hollywood movies like six times because it's just a
really cool story. It's really short.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
For an opera.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
It's actually under two hours, so short of than a
lot of movies without intermission. So it really like you
just get stuck in and it grabs you by the
throat and where you go.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
So, I mean, it's just a strong.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
Character, it's a big love story, it's politics, it's corruption.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
The point is it's not boring.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
It's definitely definitely not boring. You will not have the
opportunity to go to sleep.
Speaker 7 (07:33):
Now tell me will it be in English or day.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
It will be in Italian. But we do have an opera.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
We call them sur titles, but everyone else calls them subtitles.
I think we should just give in and start calling
them subtitles. But you will understand what's happening. And frankly,
even if you don't fancy reading, it's pretty easy to follow.
The music is telling you what is happening all the time.
It's just like a film score.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The opera Tosca, of course, is going to be on
the twenty seventh at the Mahei Jackson Theater, and this
whole evening afterwards, as we've discussed, there's going to be
a party on the piazza, and not only is are
there going to be coffee, martinis and Riccado's Italian ice.
I know all that's coming, but you actually have a
band there and they're not just playing traditional and as
they're playing everything up to including Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra,
(08:17):
so you can dance under the moonlight and the whole works.
It's a perfect Roman evening. Lyla Palmer, General Artistic Director
of the New Orleans Opera, joining Hi mcchenry and Christopher Tidmore,
and we're sort of talking about this tradition and Tosca.
You know, I've looked at it and it's been performed
multiple times over the last century here in New Orleans,
and it's part of that tradition of great opera being
(08:40):
being presented here, premiered here in many cases. And how
is it coming taking over a company in the first
city of opera, the place where opera started in North
America in seventeen ninety six.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
I was so excited to take over here because of
that tradition. You know, when you think you might be
moving to a city, you start doing a deep die
right and squirreling around looking for him. And as I
as I started reading the history of opera in the city,
I was like, crumbs, this is incredible, Like, how is
it possible? That I didn't know that most of the
things that are on main opera stages, the things that
(09:12):
are that are performed multiple times a year, whether that's
Barber or A Lucia or any of those, they all
premiered here. They all started here, and the relationship between
the continent and the kind of creative activity here has
been so it's like it's like opera in America and
opera in Europe have had this like incredible creative I
(09:35):
don't know, creative baby in New Orleans. And that's that's
the history. So if you want to understand this incredible
art form and this international art form that brings so
many artists and creatives and stories together in all these languages,
like it's kind of like a metaphor for New Orleans.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
It's like it's.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Perfect, wonderful, fantastic couple things. One comment, I can't wait
for the show after the night in Rome. After that
sounds like and only for one hundred bucks for this
the whole package, that's astounding.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
How do you do it? And it's amazing. It's got
to be one of the greatest bargains in the city.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Editor, Well, it.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Kind of is, and it was designed that way.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
You know, I figure people don't necessarily have time to
get to you know, they're working, they don't necessarily have
time to get to dinner beforehand. But if we have
some little nibbles and a little drink and all the things,
you know, it's easy.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
You just show up and you park, and you let
us sweep you away.
Speaker 7 (10:25):
And let me tell you, that is New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You just harmly don't go to anything New Orleans without
a party attached to it some kind of way, and
with lots of fine drinking, like you know, the great
martinis and all that stuff you were just talking about.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
It sounds fantastic.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
I mean, that's a tradition I can definitely get on
board with.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Right.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
My next question is who are the actors from? Where
do they hail?
Speaker 6 (10:47):
All over the country, and some of them are returning
to us, and some of them are brand new. So
Melody More is singing Tosca, she sung Tosca nationally, and
Edwin Jamal is also making a company debut with us.
But the rest of the cast, some of them are locals.
We're really fortunate to have them again. Ivan Griffin is
singing the Sacristan.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
He's local. He's a wonderful, wonderful artist.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
We're so fortunate to have these people like at our fingertips.
Dominic Cheney is coming to us from Las Vegas, but
it is singing nationally as well. Melody has been called
kind of a revelation and a kind of an absolute star,
and her Tosca is particularly renowned. So this is a
really exciting opportunity for us to have her. She's coming
(11:33):
back from La Opera singing Aida the role of am neris,
so we're really we're really fortunate to bring her here.
And I'm so proud because this opera company has a
real tradition of not only kind of generating and developing
huge operatic stars. You know, the most recent and probably
most famous, of course is Loztte Oropesa. But before that,
(11:53):
you know, in the seventies and in the eighties and
even earlier, you know, it's kind of a it's a
debrettz or a who's few of great opera singers.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
And I'm really proud to continue that tradition here.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Lyla Palmer, general Artistic Director of the New Orleans Opera,
is joining Hi mckenry Christopher Tidmore here on The Founder
Show on wa wr and O and WSLA, And we're
talking about the opera Tosca, which is premiering on the
twenty seventh Friday night, September this coming Friday. Follow up
Mattinee performance on Sunday at two thirty on the twenty ninth.
But for everyone who's really wants the perfect date night,
(12:26):
what I was referencing is you're going for one hundred dollars.
Two people not only get to go to the opera,
but have coffee martiniz and Angelo Bricado, ice cream, and
party in dancing in front of the fountains, all inclusive
for one price. And it's to try to bring people Lylah.
I think it's very important that may never have been
to an opera maybe find this entire opera idea daunting
(12:48):
and remind them that opera used to be a very
popular venue. It was something that people went to. It's
this is I mean, this is about love story and
betrayal everything. This is something that connects to the average person.
It shouldn't be this terrifying idea. In fact, it should
be fun, romantic and well roman.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
You know, I love that, and I think it's worth saying.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Whenever critics are snotty about something, it's usually because it's
wildly successful and people think it's really good fun. And
critics have been snatty about Tosca in the past because
it's just engaging and direct, and.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
You know, it has I call me old fashioned.
Speaker 6 (13:23):
I really love a hummable tune, you know, and Tosca
has some of the greatest ones. So I feel like
it has all of the ingredients that people are looking for.
You know, you're coming out and you're singing, you know,
and that's that's what you want, right.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
I can't wait to hear one of the tunes. I mean,
do we have anything here, Christopher that's going to be fun.
And by the way, this is another interesting point about
New Orleans. One of the greatest opera singers ever of
all times came out of New Orleans, and that I
believe it was the late fifties or early sixties. At seventeen,
she was shocking audiences at the Newman Pops, packing the
(14:01):
whole auditorium just to come here to this one little
gal saying she she was still in high school. And
the next year she went to New York to you know,
sing at the met and be part of that whole
opera community there and develop her career, and it was
very promising. But a year later she came home broke
her father's heart. Broke his heart. This was his special child.
(14:23):
He had ten kids, by the way, and they all
did very well in life, but he was devastated over
how what happened to her. What happened was she was
lonely for New Orleans. She was a true New Orleans.
New Orleans women always come back up there. Where they go,
where they end up, they end up dragging her husbands.
If their husband's from Austrey, he's the next thing, you know,
he's gonna be living back in New Orleans. And and
(14:45):
so she was kind of like that, I guess she
could say. And she went to Loyola, and nobody knew
what was gonna happen. They kind of thought she'd just disappear.
Speaker 7 (14:51):
Well lo and behold. It wasn't too long there after.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
She ended up becoming one of Louisiana's Supreme Court justice.
And I'm talking about Janette Terio nol I know she
will love this. And most of her they were all
all the kids were very talented. I mean they had
remarkable talent and they would sing in you know, weddings,
you know, opera style, and so I know that we're
(15:17):
probably go I bet you they can't wait to come
see this and hear this.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
I love that because it really speaks to the absolutely
kind of overwhelming set of skills that opera singers actually
have to have. You know, it looks very glamorous, and
it can be really glamorous, and it's fabulous travel and
there's you know, lots of interesting, fascinating people and fantastic
music and wonderful colleagues. And also you know, you're singing
(15:42):
in at least four languages as.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
If not five or six.
Speaker 6 (15:46):
You know, you're watching a conductor, you're moving, you're doing.
I like to say that opera singers are vocal athletes.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
You know, they're they're projecting their.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Voices over a two hundred piece orchestra unamplified. We are
not amplifying them. It's like the heavy lifting, you know,
or the Olympics of singing, which is something that I
think people really value in a city that cares about artistry,
that cares about the craft of music making. You know,
these are incredible, incredible artists that have all of these
(16:16):
different skills, linguistics, business especially today, all of these artists
are entrepreneurs.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
That's fascinating to talk to.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Well, La La Palmer, this is the art of opera
New Orleans. We're going to talk about how opera actually
influenced every other musical form in New Orleans all too,
including jazz and rock and roll. But the best way,
Emma roth Field, that I think I can explain.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
How opera influenced this is Tosca's.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Had many influences when we think of the hyads, but
this is an influence which of a song everyone will recognize.
It's not the words from Tosca, but it's the melody.
Set this up for us if you would this high
brow music we're.
Speaker 8 (16:51):
About to so, speaking as our resident gen Zer, many
people might think that being a gen zer and being
an opera lover may not go together, might seem a
little incongruous, But surprisingly, I think that a lot of
people of my generation know a lot more about opera
than they might think they do. Chief example, among you
(17:13):
know that sort of idea is actually in the movie
Happy Feet Too, which is a beloved animated movie of
my childhood. I believe in the first movie the whole
deal is that it's, you know, a colony of penguins,
and I think they're all supposed to be really great singers,
(17:33):
and there's this little, you know, baby penguin who, hence
the title happy Feet, is actually a really great dancer,
and so they decide to reverse that for the sequel.
I really hope I am remembering this correctly. It has
been a number of years since I've seen it in full.
But if you do, I'm sure I do apologize.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
To La political commented.
Speaker 8 (17:56):
But in Happy Feet too, you know, I can't exactly
remember the plot points that lead up to this, but
certainly a lot of singers of my generation will know
the scene in which I think his name is Eric.
This baby penguin bursts out into a rendition of one
of Mario Cavrodossi, who is the romantic lead of Tosca
(18:18):
his famous arias in defense of his father penguin against
a like a giant pack of walruses. Yeah, and so
this should actually be quite familiar to you.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Happy Feet too, folks. You can see how opera it
is to hear the original come on the twenty seventh,
but to hear this, folks, that you might recognize this
(18:56):
Penguins sound is one of those moments where, folks, the
(19:35):
radio doesn't do justice to what we're watching on the screen.
When when you have when you have the penguin doing
this incredible you know, high end aria and all this,
But I got to tell you it's something that Puccini
would have found absolutely wonderful. Because we think of, you know,
the opera conductors and composers as these stalwart people.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
They're anything but.
Speaker 8 (20:00):
And if anyone has seen the movie Amadaeis, it tells
you everything you need to know about Mozart. He was
a fun loving guy. I mean historically again speaking as.
Speaker 7 (20:09):
A very fun loving guy.
Speaker 8 (20:10):
Yes, a very fun loving guy to say the least,
But I mean opera has historically been an art form
of the young, surrounded by parties. Everything that we're trying
to do with Knight in Italy, that's actually what opera
has historically been all about. We're sort of trying to
bring back sort of the historical experimentalism that has always
been a part of opera, especially here in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
And folks, again to reiterate, but make a little more detailed,
by the way, real quickly, Jeanette Terryo. Noah was my
first cousin is my first cousin, and my mother was
a terio occasion gal.
Speaker 7 (20:41):
That's how I know this story firsthand.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I remember Uncle Busser all upset that, you know, his
daughter had given up on her career. She still sings
though she's great. We had to get her to participate.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
In the same But one of the things I do
want to get into is the you're hitting it Lyla Palmer,
the idea that a lot of these melodies are our
actual music that people have heard so many times, and
it's not just killed the Rabbit, and you know in
that for the ring cycle, it's actually.
Speaker 7 (21:10):
We used to say that it was a look at
all the time.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
These aren't actually parts of our culture, and that's kind
of something I want to talk about in our second segment.
But you you have you made an observation as we
go into this break that I thought was really insightful
about opera singers in New Orleans. They're kind of different
because we have a great opera singers, but they actually
cross disciplines. They're innovative in ways that people in opera
(21:35):
tend to say, are, well, you shouldn't do that. But
it's actually back to the original traditions. Can you talk
about that and the effects of the assault of the city.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Yeah, absolutely, so I was.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
I was reflecting on this the other day because my husband,
who is a conductor, works a lot in early music
and he also works in very contemporary music, so kind
of at both ends of the spectrum, and we were
talking about the way singers traditionally learned to improve in
early music and early opera. You know, they would learn
kind of how to improvise a scale or improvise an
(22:05):
ornament based on this kind of framework you know that
the composer had laid out, which I'm sure to your
jazz listeners is sounding pretty familiar, you know, so those
early operas that you would have seen, and that continues
even into handle, which is starting to be relatively structured.
You know, you have all of this invention and a
sense of play that the singers are really activated inventing
(22:27):
creatives along with the kind of original composers, and that
kind of tradition got a little bit lost and a
lot of people don't there There are some groups who
still do that now, but not as many. And what
to me is interesting is, you know, we have this
right now in America. I don't know, I don't know
how many me know this. But in North America we're
seeing this giant resurgence of new opera commissioning, new operas
(22:52):
being written, many new composers who are coming from other
worlds other than traditional class music, and so they're writing idiomatically,
and they're writing in this way that invites engagement from
the performer, that invites them to improvise and to add
and to bring their own musicality and their own creativity.
(23:13):
But our classical music institutions haven't necessarily caught up with that,
or rather come back round to that yet. But in
New Orleans you have these singers who, because of the
incredible inventive, creative multiplicity of musical styles that you absorb
being a native of the city, they are opera singers
who are so ofa with singing, jazz, with singing, all
(23:36):
these different musical styles. And you throw something at them,
you throw them acord and you say can you just
improvise something on this?
Speaker 5 (23:42):
They will do it, and they can do it in
any style you want.
Speaker 6 (23:45):
So we have this potential engine, I think for returning
to the historical experimentalism of opera here and really creating
this engine of local talent to feed a national and
international industry which is wildly ec.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Can the first city of opera, folks, be the birthplace
of new operas for the whole world. That's the question
we're going to pose in the second segment here on
the Founder's Show, Final thoughts before we go on the break.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Hih Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you need to remember this
for those who love music, I think everybody does, has
a very powerful effect on down to our soul in
the spirit. I'm a preacher giving you this message right now.
And do you know that all of the great rock
and roll and so many other types of genres of
(24:31):
music that we have in our world today, so many
of them, those musicians, those singers, they had their beginnings
in classical music because it is such a superior form
of music and there's something that developed in the nowhere else,
and because of that, it has made Western music the
rage around the world. I'm talking about classical music. I'm
(24:54):
talking about harmony that the other cultures did not have,
but Europe did have of it, for starting with Bach.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
I disagree they didn't have it.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
They had in different ways, but not quite the levels
of syncopation that we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I mean, it's more of a minor thing. We're the
ones who made it, put it up front harmony.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
I think.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
But I think those different musical traditions coming together create something.
That's what we're starting to see in music, that actual
traditions that we did not think were part of. It
is enriching not just opera but all musical forms. In fact,
it's in enriching opera itself.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
And my my husband's family, my husband husband is a
biracial kid. His parents, his mother is from India, and
you know, he's been playing Brahms and Chopin and all
of those things since he was a little.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Kid, you know.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
And he and you know, when people pose him the question, well,
how come there aren't many more South Asians and classical music,
he says, well, because we have our own. So I
think it's you know, one of the opportunities here is
that because so many different different countries and folks of
different you know, extractions ended up here. That's why we
have this super super vibrant melting pot of musical excellence here.
(26:03):
And the excellence and the traditions of many, many cultures
coming together. But right now we have the benefit obviously
of using this Western form and many and everybody's kind
of perspective and cultural heritage finding its way through and
into it and enriching the form itself, which is tremendously exciting.
And I would say that is an ultimately American project.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
And I want to talk about the ultimately American project
because Opera New Orleans is born, believe it or not,
from San doming from Haiti and the people that came in.
We're going to talk a little bit about the history
of why opera was given to America through this great
Crescent City and how that birthed jazz and rock and
roll as we know it. After this commercial break, we're
joined by Leila Palmer, she's General Artistic Director of the
(26:47):
New Orleans Opera and m Rothfield, she's the executive here
at the New Orleans Opera. Hi McKenney, Christopher Tidmore. Back
after these important messages, stay.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
Tuned, rescue, recovery, re engagement. These are not just words.
These are the action steps we at the New Orleans
Mission take to make a positive impact on the homeless
problem facing the greater New Orleans area. Did you know
(27:15):
in twenty twenty, homelessness in our community increased by over
forty percent. We are committed to meet this need through
the work being done at the New Orleans Mission.
Speaker 5 (27:27):
We begin the.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
Rescue process by going out into the community every day
to bring food, pray, and share the love of Jesus
with the hopeless and hurting in our community. Through the
process of recovery, these individuals have the opportunity to take
time out, assess their life, and begin to make new
decisions to live out their God given purpose. After the
(27:51):
healing process has begun and lives are back on track,
we walk each individual as they re engage back into
the community to be healthy, thriving, and living a life
of purpose. No one is meant to live under a bridge.
No one should endure abuse, No one should be stuck
in addiction. The New Orleans Mission is a stepping stone
(28:14):
out of that life of destruction and into a life
of hope and purpose. Partner with us today go to
www dot New Orleans Mission dot org or make a
difference by texting to seven seven nine four eight.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Well Heidi, folks, It's Chaplinhei mchinry and I'm here. To
tell you about our ministry, LAMB Ministries. We're an inter
city ministry with an interescity formula and focus for inner
city folks. This is a challenge in ministry, but we've
seen so many great things coming from it. We've seen
kids that would have never had a chance in life
get college degrees, get great careers, and do things with
(28:54):
their lives that would have never done before. We need
all the help we can get, folks. We need financial support,
we need volunteers, and we need prayer warriors. So if
you have any interest, please go to our website lamnola
dot com or just call me chaplain Hi mckenry at
five zero four seven two three nine three six nine
and again that's l A m B n O l
(29:15):
A dot com and thank you so very very much.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Give the gift of flowers by calling Villaries Florist at
one eight hundred VI I L E ri E or
Villariesflorist dot com for all of your floral needs. We're
coming up into the autumnal season. Ultimal baskets are available
at wonderful prices delivered straight to your door. Perfect Halloween gift.
Give them a call Villaries one eight hundred VI l
l eri E or Villariesflores dot com on the web
(29:38):
and turn tell them you heard it here in the
Founder's Show.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Well, folks are back and you are listening to the
Founder Show. The voice of the Founding follows and we
want you to know. You can hear this show every
Sunday morning from eight to nine am on wrn O
that's ninety nine point five on your FM do or
you can hear us during the week Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Fridays,
Wednesdays and Mondays drive time eight to nine am on
WSLA on one five six zero on the AM dial
(30:10):
or ninety three point nine on the FMDAL. And then
if you're way out west on the west end of
the rest rim of the Grand Canyon, you can hear
us on Rattlesnake Radio. This is an exciting show, folks,
with a number one rated weekend show on WRNO the
Weekend Show and which is one of the largest talk
show stations of Gossau. And to make this easy, just
get the iHeartMedia app with one of the top shows
(30:32):
with iHeartMedia, the largest broadcasting company in the world, and
you can get for free. It's free and then you
can listen to us at your convenience. You don't have
to get up at eight o'clock in the morning and
listen to us, just when you want to listen to us.
And so it's a great opp And you can also
go to our website, the foundershow dot com and this
is none other. Then you spend Gary Baybay all the
Republic Chapelain Hig McHenry with.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Christopher Tidmore and we are talking to the general and
Artistic director of the New Orleans Arbretllila Palmer and m
rol Field, executive here at the New World's Opera. And
one thing I want to get into is creativity and opera.
And it's not easy to write an opera. You've written
multiple operas. In fact, The New York Times just caused
your premiere of American Apollo at the Des Moines Metro
(31:17):
Fest this past summer as one of the greatest entries
that into in the North American opera scene in decades.
That was action actual quote coming out of The Times.
You premiered this multimillion dollar production, But it was an
incredible story about a name of someone that we would
be familiar with here in New Orleans. Can we talk
(31:38):
about your own production that just came this summer?
Speaker 6 (31:41):
Absolutely well, thank you for giving me that opportunity. We
did have very generous press. I don't remember all of
the reviews because I try not to read them. Once
I've decided that this landed well, then I just stopped
reading them. Otherwise you have to read the bad reviews too,
and that's terrible. But there weren't actually that many of
those anyway. So American Apollo yees creativity in opera. I've written,
(32:02):
I guess twenty five operas.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Now, But this was this is the point where Hi
and I start looking at her shoes and saying, what
have we done with our lives?
Speaker 6 (32:12):
I mean probably go out and smelled the roses a
bit more than me at.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Such a young age. This is amazing, I mean absolutely amazing.
I have a question about with this what we're talking
about right now, and that is, is there any way
this could be the beginning of re establishing NU Orleans
as one of the theater centers of America.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
As the place where new operas are being premiered.
Speaker 6 (32:32):
Oh, you know, I would love that. But I think
I'm very honest about that. You know, I think the thing.
I was listening to someone on the radio this morning, actually,
and I I've been very honest about my standards for
new work. So you know, you don't get a Mozart
or a Puccini without giving them a shot, without giving
new creatives a shot. You have to create new work,
(32:54):
but you also have to create the conditions for new work.
So I've written about twenty five operas. I will tell
you that the piece that premiered this summer was the
longest I have ever had to write an opera, and
that was four years, and we needed every single day
of that time. And even still I would like to
tweak it. You know, Broadway shows, you know, they're they're
(33:14):
made over years and then they are previewed from multiple audiences.
They get workshop after workshop. You know, it's really they
get a lot of time to develop. Operas cost a
vast amount of money, but you get very little development time.
So in fact, there was another article in a newspaper
this week with another creative team who were just saying,
you know, we come from musical theater. We were so
(33:36):
shocked it was our third draft on stage. And I
was like, you're lucky it was your third draft. Sunshine.
So but to answer your question, Christopher, yes, the opera
that I recently had up this summer featured the a
central character of John Singer Sargent, who obviously is known
mostly to New Orleans as the painter who created Madame
X and scandalize the Gaultier family. So yes, he redeemed
(34:01):
himself after that. But this story was about John Singer
Sergeant's most important life model in the last decade of
his career, a young man from Wilmington, North Carolina, called
Thomas Eugene mckella, who was a bell hop and was
a kind of early an early migrant in the Great
(34:22):
Migration North. He was from a middle class black family
in Wilmington, and he found himself in Boston in an
elevator with John Singer Sergeant who was in need of
a model. And the story is really a love story.
It has some very contemporary themes, and it also features
a cameo from perhaps my favorite current female historical figure,
(34:43):
Isabella Stuart Gardner, who was one of the first major
art collectors in North America and the only woman going
toe to toe with Rockefeller for a major art collection.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
If you've never been to the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum
in Boston, Messa. It's the only place I've ever seen
that the She didn't convert a house, She built historic
rooms in a museum to reflect the right place to
hang the art. It is an incredible place to go.
Speaker 6 (35:08):
You no, I didn't think about this, but actually connecting
the Night in Italy to Isabella Stuart Gardner makes complete
sense because what she did was she built a palazzo
in Boston for people who didn't go there on the
Grand Tour themselves.
Speaker 5 (35:20):
So we're doing exactly the same thing.
Speaker 6 (35:22):
And I didn't even realize I'd been inspired by Bell
well done.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Which which comes back to the subject of today. So
those just joining us, who you're hearing is Lela Palmer.
She's the general artistic director of the New Orleans Opera
and this coming Friday, September twenty seventh, seven thirty pm,
the opera Tosca's coming in. But you have the chance
to have an entire Roman holiday, an entire night in
Italy by going to New Orleans Opera dot org and
(35:47):
getting the Night in Italy tickets that includes the entire
opera Tosca, as well as the party on the piazza.
Believe it or not, most people don't realize the area
where the fountains are in Armstrong Park is actually called
the piazza and will there will be a full partment
triple the normand Trickle Fiazza to be precise, and that
will be where there will be not just Italian classical music,
(36:10):
but country music and Italian country music, and then all
the way up to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra being
performed with Braccado's Italian ice. Our great contribution to the
city and ideas express of martinis, drinks, the whole works
in full bar. But you for one hundred dollars for
a couple, you get to have an entire Roman holiday
across the entire evening. We highly recommended New Orleans Opera
(36:33):
dot org for more information and to be able to
get those tickets. And it is kind of trying to
bring this sort of atmosphere to it. And that's one
of the things opera does really well because of the
way music goes from one to two to ten to twenty.
More than any other art form, it brings you in
the melodies and the harmonies, brings you into the emotional
(36:54):
state of the performance in a way that all other
forms of music do but don't do to the same extent,
you know, And it's all included the lower price of
one hundred dollars for two. You can find out more
information by calling five O four five two nine three
thousand at the that is the box office for the opera.
But the easiest way is to go to New Orleans
Opera dot Org. Look at the events, click on it,
(37:14):
and just click on a night in Italy and in Hi.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
You got it. This as we as we say.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Lyla Palmer and now m rol Field have been joining
us for this hour.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
And Chris Frock got a big question here, but this
is for the audience. What are we going to do
to make sure this gal has only been with us
for about three months now, this magnificent talent we now
have in New Orleans. How are we going to keep
her here? As soon as she gets discovered? You know,
some of these real rich cities are going to come
try to snager and take her away. So New Orleanians
out there, we need to do something to make sure
(37:45):
we keep this gal with us.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Right.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
The best thing you could do right now is to
go to your phone, go to New Orleans Opera dot
org and buy tickets to Tosca by doing the Night
in Italy promotion dancing under the stars. That's the guaranteed
way of keeping Lyla Palmer and m rol Field here.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
And I'll be there every night, so please come say.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Hi, Amen, Amen, We'll be very We'll be back very
shortly after this brief commercial break for your chaplain by
by Patriotic Moment.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
Satan Wore of the Founder Show.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Right after this to the break some of the music
from the opera Tosca. The foremost gathering place of New
(39:57):
Orleans is the Garden District Bookshop at twenty seven twenty seven,
Britannia in the historic Rink shopping center. Greatest book events
for you to go. If you want to come to
the book shop and just have a cocktail for yes,
there is a bar in the Garden District book Shop.
You can always come every evening till eight pm weekday,
seven pm weekends and think you can always get breakfast
and launch at the chickry house next door. But for
the great book events coming up at the Garden District Bookshop,
(40:20):
they're incredible. Eric Cooks signing his Modern Creole a taste
of New Orleans culture cuisine on September nineteenth. Trip Freelander
is in conversation with Amy on the tunnel in September
twenty fourth, and the famed author Anne Patchett and Robert
Price Greisler are talking about their book The Verts The
Story of Introverts and Extroverts on September twenty fifth at
(40:40):
four point fifteen. And for the Churchill lovers out there,
on October sixth, Sonia Purnell is talking about her new
book on Pamela Churchill Harriman, the daughter in law of
Winston Churchill and of course the architect of Bill Clinton's
victory some forty years later.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
On October sixth.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
More of this and all of these events at Garden
District Bookshe at Gardendistrict Bookshop dot com. And remember Night
in Italy is going to be this Friday, September twenty seventh,
seven thirty pm at Mehay Jackson Theater. If you're not
an Internet savvy you can always call the box office
at five oh four five two nine three thousand to
find out more information. One hundred dollars for a couple
(41:17):
to go to the Opera Tosca and to go to
the Fame party on the Piazza with included expresso martinis
and Roccado's Italian ice and bands and all this this Friday,
September twenty seventh, and for those who want the afternoon
September twenty ninth, matt and a performance at two thirty
pm more at New Orleans Opera Dot Org.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Well, folks, we're back and you're listening to the final show,
and this is none other then you're spend gary by
by all the republic chaplain Highmchenry, and it does not
time for us to go into our chaplain by by
patriotic moment where I just take a brief moment to
give you a little history lesson on the biblical foundations
of our country, our judio Christian jurisprudence. And today we
(41:59):
want to talk about a fabulous American who left a
huge footprint on this country that encouraged all the more
of the Biblical foundations for a country. I'm talking about
none of the than Maheia Jackson, certainly one of the
greatest musicians in the history of America. Maheia Jackson was
born in New Orleans, raised here back in nineteen eleven
(42:21):
and She went on to have one of the greatest
gospel singing careers in the history of this country.
Speaker 7 (42:27):
She was a world traveler.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
They had her all over Europe, all over America, performing
at the biggest and the greatest things going. She never
left her favorite genre, which is gospel music. Now if
the only one with that is I'm talking about African
gospel music. If you go to any great old African
church today, you're going to hear it in acchoir.
Speaker 7 (42:44):
It's awesome.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
If you never get to do that and you go
to the jazz Fest, the largest crowd at the jazz Fest,
not counting the big giant things they do, but as
far as all the tents during the day, throughout the
week or the weekend, you're going to find out that
the largest audio is at the gospel ten. That's African
gospel music. It is African American, it is dynamic, it
(43:07):
is awesome. Well that was her genre, that's what she's saying.
Speaker 7 (43:11):
She had a.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Huge impact and influence on the politics of her day,
the move for integration, you know, the civil rights movement.
She was one of Martin Luther's favorite people. She performed
at inaugurations for JFK. And LBJ and other great politicians.
She had a huge impact on the political nature of
our country. She never left gospel music. They tried to
(43:35):
get her into rock and roll and all these other things,
and even though her music had a huge impact and
influence in rock and role, she would never leave gospel music.
And one of her great sayings was, you just don't
know nothing to you know, Jesus, folks. I think Maheia
Jackson when she was preaching to these politicians, was making
it clear to them we needed God in government.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
But what about you?
Speaker 7 (43:55):
Do you have God in you?
Speaker 2 (43:57):
That's the most important thing of all, because you know
you could but come one of the greatest political, patriotic,
gospel Bible based politicians of all times, patriots of all times,
and still die and go to hell. And if you
did that, what was the point of it all? You
missed the greatest of all. You missed the Gospel, the
very thing Meheia Jackson was singing about. So I'm going
(44:20):
to show you now and again it won't take long.
How you can know for sure that when you die,
you're going to heaven. You're God's child, and remember God
on any grandchildren. So Billy Graham's children could never get
in on Billy Graham. They had to get in on
themselves their personal connection with God.
Speaker 7 (44:36):
It's like that for all of us, folks. God only
has children.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
This is how you can become a child of God,
just like Meheia Jackson was born into poverty, no hope
for any kind of future, and became one of the
greatest musicians in the history of the twentieth century. I mean,
and you know, by the way, she's also buried here,
and we know she's in glory right now. So this
is how you can know that you can be in
glory forever. That means going to heaven, folks. The Bible says,
(45:02):
for God so loved the world, that's you. In fact,
that's everybody. That he gave his only begotten son. And
now that's the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man,
all the way God and all the way man. He
gave his only begotten son. That whosoever that's you again,
believeth in him. Well, okay, now what does that mean?
Believeth in him? It could mean all kinds of things. Wait, good,
(45:24):
So this is what you need to believe. The scripture says,
the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to
whosoever believeth. The word gospel, just plain and simply translated English,
means good news.
Speaker 7 (45:34):
That's all it means. It's a simple concept.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Great news, glad tidings, great news, that's what it means.
So the scripture says, for that great news, the gospel
is the power of God under salvation to whosoever believeth.
Speaker 7 (45:48):
And then what is the gospel? What is that good news?
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Well, it tells us in First Corinthians chapter fifteen, For
I declare unto you the gospel that Christ died for
all of our sins according to the scripture, that he
was buried, and that he rose from the dead according
to the scripture. Now I'm gonna paraphrase, and that whosilver
believeth in this great Gospel message is gonna be safe
from hell and guaranteed evan, folks, it's that simple. That
(46:12):
whosoever believeth in him. We're back to John three sixteen.
Whosoever believeth that He died for all your sins and
was barion roseman. That who's ever believed you gotta believe it, folks,
that whosoever believeth in this shall not perish, not go
to hell, but have everlasting life. That's John three sixteen.
That is the most popular verse for people who have
come to Christ, and we recorded the history of the Church.
(46:35):
Is something very powerful, that one little verse. That's why
one of the names, one of John's name is he
has more names than any of the other apostles. He's
known as John the Evangelist, John the Revelator, John the Beloved.
He's got lots of interesting names. He's also known as
John the Son of Thunder. He had a lot of
interesting names. He was Jesus's probably closest friend, who wrote
(46:56):
the Gospel of John, from which I just quoted. So, folks,
you gotta believe. It boils down that believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and that was saved. Now that belief
has broken into two things, two types of belief.
Speaker 7 (47:08):
You need to have. Jesus kept saying repent and believe,
Repent and believe.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
So what are those two things, Well, the first thing
is repentance. It is your part of your belief, your
faith in God. Believe that you can't save yourself, that
you're never going to be good enough, smart enough, religious enough,
righteous enough, holy, enough, whatever enough your good works, your
righteous subscription, says, is as filthy ranks to God.
Speaker 7 (47:32):
We're just not good enough for God.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
So don't worry about it.
Speaker 7 (47:35):
It doesn't matter. He still loves you no matter what.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
He loves you with all his heart, the Bible says,
and he just wants you to love him back with
all your heart. And the way you do that is
you believe you can't save yourself. Now at that point
your heart is fully, fully committed to God. And so
with all your heart now you can believe that Jesus
really did die for all your sins, was buried in
Roseam dead, and you have absolutely nothing to do with
that great work. He's the only one who could do
the great work on the cross when he died for
(47:57):
your sins in Roasmam dead. The only thing you can
do is us to him with the faith a little child,
and that's all he wants from you, and then with
that you get his righteousness. The Bible says, he that
knew no sin, meaning Jesus, was mad. It made into
all of the horrible, terrible things you, me and everybody
else has ever done. He was turned into that sin
was maidens, and that you might be made the righteousness
(48:18):
of God in him. He takes all your bed to
give you all his good You get all of his
righteousness the split second. You believe with the faith of
a little child. If you've never done it before, please
do it now. Don't wait till it's too late. Like
the old country preacher said, and like the scripture says,
now today is the day of salvation. Believe right now,
please with all your heart, that Jesus died for all
(48:38):
of your sins, was buried and rose from the dead. Well, folks,
it's not time for us to go in our final
little section called the chaplain by Bah Watchman on the Wall. Now,
last week we did testimony time, and I told you
all about Martin Delorel, what an amazing man he was,
how his funeral was one of the most astounding funerals
I've ever been to. And it showed a man that
was a man that was such a friend. I don't
(49:00):
think I've ever known a person that could say this
truly was a man that was a friend wherever he went.
Everybody the church was over. I've never seen so many people.
Everybody there had a story about him. The verse that
came to my mind. This scrip says he that would
have friends must show himself friendly. Well, Martin knew how
to do that, and he did it all the time.
He did it because he loved God. I had some
good personal talks with him and I know that. But
(49:21):
now it's time for us to go into our watchmen
on the wall, and he was watching. He was waiting
for Jesus to come back. We're all supposed to be
doing that because the Bible says we're to do that.
Jesus said, you'd be waiting watching because I'm coming. I'm
showing you all the signs. They're over two hundred signs.
Now I'm going to give you one of the signs
he said. He said there'd be earthquakes in the end
in divers place. That means they're gonna be a lot
of earthquakes, folks. Do you know that up until the
(49:41):
turn of the century and going into the twentieth century,
about one hundred years ago.
Speaker 7 (49:45):
Up until that time, there.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
Were only about a dozen earthquakes every year, and then
when something happened in the seventies had picked up and
there were forty five hundred earthquakes all around the world.
Do you know how many earthquakes they're having now close
to five thousand earthquakes a year all around the world.
There's a ten thousand percent increase in earthquakes. That was
one of the signs that's never happened before in the
(50:08):
history of the world. You know how we know that
geology It tells you how often we've had earthquakes in
the past. You just study the earth'squake, I mean a
crust and you can find out how many earthquakes we
had we've had over the centuries, over the millennia. So, folks,
Jesus is coming back soon and we got very little time.
And so if you want to get ready for this
apocalyptic age that's bearing down upon us right now, rapidly coming.
(50:32):
Jesus said it would come rapidly in the end, you
got to get ready. You need a bunker, You need
something to hide in because it's going to get that bad.
And I'm gonna give you the best bunker you can
ever get. It's called the Jesus Christ Bunker. All you
got to do is believe that He died for your
sins in Rosemond dead and he is your safe house.
He is your bunker. You have no worries, No worries, folks.
So if you've never done that before, do it now.
(50:55):
I believe that Jesus really did die for your sins
in Roseman Dead. Well, it's not time for us to close,
as we close with the Monk st Martin. Nope, nope, nope,
not her mind, but he would love this. We're gonna
close with Tosca, one of the greatest operas New Orleans
ever had, and it's coming soon, folks.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
Let it rip, Maestro, come join us September twenty seven,
seven thirty More information at New Orleans Opera dot org
and you'll find hear this.
Speaker 10 (51:25):
Noityy.
Speaker 7 (51:57):
But wait, wait, wait, folks, it's not over yet. That's right.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
For the lighter side of opera, I have a wonderful
clip here. I'm gonna play for me Tom and Jerry
singing figurero one of my favorite tunes. And by the way,
all his Baby Boomers and even Christopher's generations Generation X
we heard these cartoons when we were young and we
loved them. So here's a little bit of figure from
Tom and Jerry.
Speaker 11 (52:25):
Got you Got, You Got, you got, you got all,
he got all Lah you go to a quah you la.
Speaker 3 (53:11):
Problem, A problem.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
Wow, what fun we had when we were kids. We
even were in the opera. How about that, folks. Well
it's about time for us to go finally, and so folks,
that's all and we'll see you on the next show.
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