About this episode
Masks, both literal and figurative, abound in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, “A Masked Ball.” Conspirators feign support of a leader they despise. A noblewoman must veil both her face and her feelings from her husband. The governor must put on a disguise to understand his subjects, and his beloved. The governor’s chief councilor dons a mask to take murderous revenge on him for an imagined betrayal. Even the setting itself, colonial Boston, is a thin disguise for the original setting, Sweden under Gustav III. Hosted by Pat and guest co-host Michael Severance, long-serving bassoonist and contrabassoonist with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.