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Take Me to the Opera

Zeinab Badawi delves into the baroque, opulent world of opera and tries to assess how it is making itself fit for the future. She spends time with up-and-coming operatic stars to see how they are trained and what it takes to make it in this musical genre. Zeinab also meets with the established stars of opera to discuss their lives and careers. How will opera fit into the culture of the future?
20223 episodesTV-G
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Episodes

  1. S2 E1 - Reaching for the Stars
    June 17, 2022
    23min
    TV-G
    Zeinab Badawi travels to La Scala in Milan, Italy, where most opera singers dream of performing. La Scala has the largest academy in the world training hundreds of young people. Zeinab goes behind the scenes to follow four young singers from Europe, Asia and Latin America, as they are put through their paces. But do they have what it takes to become the opera stars of the future?
    Free trial of BBC Select
  2. S2 E2 - The Art of Opera
    July 29, 2022
    23min
    TV-G
    Zeinab Badawi travels to La Scala in Milan, one of the world's most prestigious opera houses. But what audiences do not see is the army of talent backstage who make sure that everything is right on the night. Zeinab goes behind the scenes and visits the vast workshop where teams deliver amazing sets, costumes and props. She meets those involved in staging a complex, challenging production.
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  3. S2 E3 - Kaufmann Unveiled
    August 5, 2022
    23min
    ALL
    Zeinab Badawi travels to Munich in Germany to meet the world's top tenor Jonas Kaufmann. He draws legions of adoring fans wherever he performs, but makes him so special? Zeinab finds out about his journey to global fame from modest beginnings on a housing development in Munich. And she hears about the pressures and sacrifices involved in becoming one of the greatest singers in operatic history.
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Subtitles
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Cast
Zeinab Badawi
Studio
BBC News
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