In last week's episode, we took a journey back to the Gilded Age and the Bella Puck to look at the life of soprano superstar Lillian Nordica.

Lillian came from rural Maine and went on to become one of the greatest and most admired opera stars of her time.

My show last week gave Lillian's story, and I know you'll agree it was quite a tale.

This week, I'm pleased and honored to present a bonus second part to the story,

a look at Lillian's life through the eyes of a very modern opera singer,

International Netso-Soprano Kate Aldrich, who, like Lillian Nordica,

and me, the gilded gentleman, comes from the New England state of Maine.

Kate gives us her interpretation of how a singer of today would interpret Lillian's career,

and she gives us very special insight into her own performing

life around the world today.

Hello. Hello, I'm Carl Raymond, the host of the Gilded Gentleman History podcast, where every two weeks I'll take you beyond the glitter and the gold to have a look at the style, architecture, history, and culture in America's Gilded Age, Francis Bellepuc,

and England's late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Kate Aldrich is one of today's foremost mezzo-sopranos on the international opera stage.

Her career has taken her from New York's Metropolitan Opera to the Opera Houses of Paris, Munich, Vienna, Barcelona,

Buenos Aires, and Lisbon to name only a few. Her work has included appearances at the

world-famous Salzburg Festival and at the Rossini Festival in Pezzaro, Italy. In addition,

she has appeared in the summer festival at the Great

Roman amphitheater, the Arena di Verona, in Verona, Italy, which she discusses with us today.

Her roles have included a wide range in the Metsosoprano repertoire from Mozart's Kerabino in

the Marriage of Figaro and Rossina in the Barber of Seville,

to Verdi's eboli in Don Carlo, Adelgiza in Norma, Octavian in de Rosen Cavalier,

and a rarity she discusses with us today, the role of Fidesz in Meyerbeer's epic grand opera,

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