The Beast Who Became an Opera

Soundcheck | May 3, 2010
Chicago Tribune music writer Greg Kot explains how a potential merger between two major concert promoters could spell trouble for concertgoers and for artists. Also, film composer Elliot Goldenthal and stage director and librettist Julie Taymor discuss "Grendel," their new opera inspired by the Beowulf legend. It combines projections, puppetry, masks and an emotional score. Finally, soul songwriter Dan Penn, the man behind such hits as Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman," stops by to share his latest studio project.

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

America at 250: A View from Britain, with “The Rest Is History”

The historian-podcasters Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explain why losing the thirteen colonies “annoyed” the British, but “it could have been a lot worse.”
The New Yorker Radio Hour |

NYC Rent Guidelines Board approves 2-year rent freeze, fulfilling Mamdani campaign pledge

About 1 million rent-stabilized apartments will be shielded from rent increases for the next two years after the historic vote.
Gothamist |

Are Carriage Horses a Thing of the Past?

Liam Quigley talks about the latest efforts to ban carriage horses in Central Park.
The Brian Lehrer Show |

Feds indict former Mayor Adams adviser Frank Carone in migrant housing bribery scheme

One of former Mayor Eric Adams' oldest and closest allies was arrested Wednesday on federal corruption charges, joining a growing roster of Adams aides facing prosecution.
Gothamist |
YOU ARE ONLINE