“Every Voice with Terrance McKnight” spotlights the diverse stories and perspectives that reflect the whole of the classical music experience. In this radio special of the final chapter in the season, we discuss Mozart’s “Abduction from the Seraglio” and ask big questions about the future of opera.

In this radio special of “Every Voice,” Terrance McKnight investigates Verdi’s “Aida” and the complicated history behind this African love story.

In this radio special of “Every Voice,” Terrance McKnight turns toGiuseppe Verdi’s “Otello” and how this centuries-old story shapes today’s narratives around Black success.

Classical music is full of hidden voices. In this radio special of “Every Voice with Terrance McKnight,” enjoy the season’s journey into Mozart’s "The Magic Flute," its investigation into the overlooked character of Monostatos, and what his portrayal teaches us about ourselves.

With troubled origins, opera has often reduced people of African descent to racist stereotypes. Can this art form find its place in a world where many are striving for inclusivity and beauty?

In “Abduction from the Seraglio,” Pasha Selim subjects both European women and men of African descent to servitude within his haram. But their dramatic treatment — which characters get to enjoy freedom, which characters do not — tend to uphold stereotypes of race, class and sex.

Mozart socialized with Black visionaries and drafted the abolitionist opera “Zaide.” But when it came to making a profit, “Abduction from the Seraglio” subjected enslaved characters to the same brutal realities inflicted on enslaved people across the world in the late eighteenth century. .

During Mozart’s brief life, he encountered several artists of African descent who were important to the arts and cultural scene in Europe. So, why in his operas, such as “The Magic Flute” and “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” are people from this background depicted as slaves and miscreants?

Giuseppe Verdi's “Aida” depicts an Africa with Ethiopians in chains. In reality, that was an imperialist dream unrealized by Egyptian Khedive Ismail Pasha and the American Confederates that colluded with him.

How Verdi’s “Aida,” composed in the 1860s for the European elite in Egypt, was born out of the American Civil War.

Joined by the celebrated bass baritone Sir Willard White as the King of Egypt and soprano Angela Brown as Aida - hear from the African characters of “Aida” in their own voices.

“Aida” is an African love story, so, why are the Egyptians white?

With such an emphasis on Otello’s flaws, how is it that Desdemona fell in love? In her play “Desdemona,” the writer Toni Morrison reimagines the love story between Otello and Desdemona, bringing to light their connections to Africa which are so often overlooked and underplayed on stages around the world.

Throughout history, Verdi’s Otello is often whitewashed: from his character rejecting his African culture, to the overlooked symbolism in a black handkerchief shared between him and his love Desdemona before a tragic demise.

Otello was a celebrated war hero and general in the Venetian army. But as a free Black man with power, he couldn’t escape the myth that Black manhood is something to be feared and controlled.

The Moor Otello, protagonist of Shakespeare’s play and, later, of Verdi’s opera, becomes a hero in Venice because he’s a warrior, a fierce defender of Christian values. But despite his service to the state of Venice — the renunciation of his faith and his name, and his part in leading a successful war against his fellow Africans — he remains the subject of fear and envy.

The use of blackface is a dying trend, but it was fundamental to one of the most popular operas of all time, Mozart's hit eighteenth century comedic opera, “The Magic Flute.“ Over the last few decades a number of opera companies have been working to create alternate versions of this piece, all of them attempting to craft essential messages relevant to our society; we find out how.

When the enslaved Monostatos catches feelings for Princess Pamina, his character is brutally punished.

Whether you're a princess, a prince, or a prison guard, there is a desire to be seen. In Mozart's “The Magic Flute,” this basic human need for connection becomes a joke in someone who's seen as less than.

Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” defines the character of Monostatos by his Blackness. On the campus of Morehouse College, the Every Voice team lifts the mask to understand the character underneath the caricature.

“Every Voice with Terrance McKnight” is a show that spotlights the vibrant stories and perspectives that reflect the whole of the American musical experience.