Episode 30: A Night at the Opera

No singers, no sets, no chorus? No problem! The grandest music from the greatest operas still rings out on the Heifetz stage, thanks to the legions of composers who have arranged, fantasized, transcribed, and otherwise transformed the opera world’s most moving and memorable melodies into instrumental showpieces. This episode features operatic performances both poignant and dazzling, played in concert by young Heifetz virtuosos.

This Episode’s Playlist

Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5
Aram Khachaturian: Sabre Dance from Gayane
24 Cellos of Heifetz 2014
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.13.2014

Georg Friderich Handel: Overture to Giulio Cesare
Heifetz Baroque Chamber Orchestra | David Stern, conductor
Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.10.2019

Gluck: Mélodie from Orfeo ed Euridice
Madison Vest, violin | Carlos Avila, piano
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 10.15.2015

Georg Friderich Handel: Sonata in G Minor for Two Cellos in G minor, HWV 393
I. Andante
Antonio Lysy, cello | Mo Mo, cello | Coleman Itzkoff, cello continuo | Andrew Rosenblum, harpsichord
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording 07.10.2016

Pablo de Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy
SoHyun Ko, violin | Miki Aoki, piano
First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute recording | 07.08.2021

Bohuslav Martinů: Variations on a Theme By Rossini
Mo Mo, cello | Carlos Avila, piano
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute recording | 07.16.2016

Jules Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs
Tommy Mesa, cello | Yoon Lee, piano
Virtual Performance, Miami FLA / New York NY
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.29.2020

Henryk Wieniawski: Fantasy on Themes from Gounod’s Faust, Op. 20
Marina Alba Lopez, violin | Andrew Rosenblum, piano
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute recording | 06.25.2023