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Met Opera – intermission broadcasts
Met Opera – online features
Met Guild – cassettes and CDs

For his first 10 seasons (1984 to 1993), Father Lee’s Met Opera intermission talks were called “Musical and Dramatic Analyses”. In that time, he delivered 29 MADAs, 23 of which were published in his book “FIRST INTERMISSIONS” (1995, revised and enlarged 2002, 2004).

These talks are generally about 20 minutes long and were taped “off the air” several decades ago. So – please note – the audio quality of these clips is very variable. I have been able to find only 17 of his 29 talks in this series, so far.

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His longer talks (generally over an hour) are from an extensive series of CDs and Cassettes produced by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, called “TALKING ABOUT OPERA”. All 11 of his contributions to this project are reproduced here with the kind permission of Mr. Paul Gruber, the Guild’s Executive Director, Program Development.

For his final 12 seasons (1994 to 2006) Father Lee delivered 16 more talks – not MADAs, but “Discussion Commentaries” … inspired by, and loosely linked to, the Opera of the day. So far, I have been able to find only 3 of these 16 talks in audio format. As others become available, I will upload them. The texts for some of these “Discussion Commentaries” can be found in his book “A SEASON OF OPERA : from Orpheus to Ariadne” (1998, 2000).

* denotes shorter Met Opera INTERMISSION TALKS (Musical and Dramatic Analyses)
† denotes longer “TALKING ABOUT OPERA” CD recordings (produced by the Met Opera Guild)

German Opera Commentaries

  • DIE ZAUBERFLOTE - 1990 †
  • DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE - 2006
  • FIDELIO - 1990 †
  • FIDELIO - 2006 *
  • DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER - 1989 *
  • TANNHÄUSER -1987 *
  • LOHENGRIN - 1985 *
  • LOHENGRIN - 1997 †
  • DAS RHEINGOLD - 1989 *
  • DAS RHEINGOLD - 1988 *
  • DIE WALKÜRE - 1989 *
  • SIEGFRIED - 1989 *
  • GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG -1989 *
  • TRISTAN UND ISOLDE - 1998 †
  • DIE MEISTERSINGER 1 - 1985 *
  • DIE MEISTERSINGER 2 - 1985 *
  • PARSIFAL 1 -1986 *
  • PARSIFAL 2 - 1986 *
  • PARSIFAL 3 - 1992 *
  • ELEKTRA - 1984 *
  • DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN - 1989 *

Italian Opera Commentaries

  • IDOMENEO - 2009 †
  • IDOMENEO - 1991 *
  • DON GIOVANNI - 1997 †
  • RIGOLETTO - 1987 *
  • SIMON BOCCANEGRA - 1986 *
  • UN BALLO IN MASCHERA - 1991 *
  • DON CARLO - 1992 *
  • AIDA - 1989 *
  • OTELLO - 1988 *
  • LA BOHEME - 1991 *
  • TURANDOT - 1992 *

French Opera Commentaries

  • FAUST - 2004 †
  • LES TROYENS - 1984 *
  • ROMEO et JULIETTE - 2005 †
  • LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN - 1988 *
  • MANON - 1987 *
  • PELLEAS ET MELISANDE - 1994 †
  • DIALOGUES des CARMELITES - 2002 †
  • PELLEAS ET MELISANDE - 2005 *

Discussion Commentaries

  • Walt Whitman and Opera (Luicia di Lammermoor) 1994 | 18m
  • The Requisite Miracle (La Traviata) 1995 | 12m
  • Opera and Politics (Un Ballo in Maschera) 1997 | 18m
  • A Figure as Old as Comedy (Falstaff) 1996 | 17m
  • The Case for Wagner - 1998 | 15m
  • A Man for all Centuries (Nozze di Figaro) 1998 | 13m
  • The Devil's Motif (Carmen) 2001 | 14m
  • Wagner and the Wonder of Art (Meistersinger) 2001 | 14m
  • Faust after Faust - 2003 | 11m