I want to suggest to the world that this is currently the best pod cast. Crazy thing to say... It's unpretentiously creative, imaginative, intelligent, fulfilling, thoughtful and brings beautiful music into the mind scape it subtly builds in your own imagination. It's like falling asleep at the opera and dreaming a story behind the music playing around you.

UPDATE: I think it's also worth pointing out that Rhiannon Giddens is a wonderful human being. Aside from making podcasts, singing opera, performing live, recording with Beyoncé, acting on Nashville, collaborating with everyone from Ben Harper to Renee Fleming to Yo Yo Ma, being the music director of the Ojai Music Festival and writing children's books (whew!), she uses her fame to shine light on other Black country and traditional musicians. she walks the talk. I'm a longtime fan of Rhiannon Giddens, but I never knew that she had trained as a classical singer. If she was hosting any podcast, I was going to listen to it, but I am especially delighted with Aria Code because I love opera. I'm familiar with many of the arias dissected in this series, but some are new to me. Either way, each episode is a delight. I love hearing about the history of these operas, and I love hearing the singers discuss how they approach a particular role. When Rhiannon plays the complete aria at the end of the episode, it really does make a difference in how I understand it, no matter how often I have heard it before. I hope Aria Code will be around for many more seasons.

I stumbled upon this podcast last fall and have been working my way through the seasons. Each episode offers me something new to think about, teaches me about the music, and fills me with such joy - or sorrow because … opera as Rihannon says. The episodes are so beautifully edited to make a seamless story. I am awed by the diversity of the voices and the expertise and stories they contribute. How do you find your ‘decoders’? Amazing. This is by far my favorite podcast! Thank you for the opportunity to learn and appreciate opera even more. Will there be a season 5????

I'm so glad I've found this podcast! I learn somuch every time I listen. Thank you Aria Code!

This is truly an exceptional podcast. Not just for the subject matter, but how they break it down and give you a really deep understanding of the piece that you can’t get (or at least I did not get) from reading the libretto and looking at the wikipedia page for the opera.

I love how an aria is deconstructed, examined then reassembled with new insights. The opera artists give a window in to their preparation and interpretation. But, guests from outside of the opera world are inspired choices providing deep and sometimes disturbing context for listening in a different way.

This podcast is absolutely amazing! I can’t wait for the next season!

This podcast is amazing!

I love, love, love listening to Aria Code. Rhiannon is such a cheerful and informative host. She finds fascinating guests that provide depth and context for each aria that is examined. I find layers of meaning I didn’t know existed, which enhance my enjoyment of the music. It’s like this podcast was written just for me. Thank you, Rhiannon! I can’t wait for the next one!

Each podcast episode provides an in depth analysis and discussion of a specific aria in different operas. I love hearing the beautiful singing voice of each aria and how each piece of music connects to our daily human lives.

Thank you for creating this podcast. My family and I love it.

This episode is par for the course on this outstanding podcast. If you know nothing about opera, this will introduce a beautiful art form in a way that invites you in. And as a long-time opera fan, I always finish an episode learning or hearing something new. Keep it up!!

This podcast is the most insightful, intelligent and of course musically wonderful podcast available today. Rhiannon Giddens and the producers bring an amazing array of voices together to not only break down a beautiful aria musically and vocally, but connect the sound and text and context of the aria to history and our world today. Explaining the Queen of the Night in terms of women’s empowerment (the lack of in the case!) changed the way I listen to The Magic Flute forever. I have introduced this podcast to many friends, who have never really even listened to an opera And they have loved it! Bravo to the team and please please never stop producing these, there are enough arias to last a lifetime!

Thank you for bringing this detail of opera to the public. Its such a rich and complex art form. You are doing a beautiful job with it. It enriches my life.

I love you all. Thank you very much DDH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This podcast is so beautiful to listen to— fascinating, poetic, and enlightening! It makes me want to reserve a seat at the opera right away! Thank you to everyone involved in making it!

Wonderful podcast with expert commentary by a diverse panel! Both enjoyable and educational— the ideal way to learn about this opera before seeing it in HD! I highly recommend it!

Ariacode is so packed with information and beautiful insight, I listen to episodes twice.

I’ve always loved operas on a very physical, emotional, level but never knew them intellectually. This is a fun journey that stirs the soul and the mind. Thank you for taking me along!

Outstanding entertainment and education in one package. This podcast enhances one’s love of opera and should spark it in everyone.

I look forward to each episode, each aria taken from the current season. It’s a treat to hear so many different perspectives on the story that frames the music. One feature I don’t love, though, is that there’s quite a bit of repetition of quotes from the interviewees within the episode.

This great podcast really seems to have lost its way this season. It used to focus on the Aria. Now at least one guest per show rattles on about a lengthy personal anecdote that has next to nothing to do with the opera, much less the aria. I really wish they would go back to basics and talk about the Aria like they used to.

This podcast is always interesting and in so many ways. It’s about music. And history. And people. Kudos to Rhiannon.

Dear! Rhiannon Giddens I have been fascinated with Classical music all my life. I’m a HUGE! Fan of the well-known composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His music inspires me. I’m fascinated with your podcast. Because it explains to the listeners some of the music I have for sale. My best buddies are retired opera singers. And they listen too. I would give more than five stars if I could. I have an enormous collection of vinyl records and CD’s. I take old beat-up records and refurbish them with my special cleaning tools. I have an online store on Etsy called WildPeccaries. etsy.com/shop/WildPeccaries

This is a stunningly great podcast. Every episode leaves me gobs,acked. I get very happy when a new one drops. Huzzah!

Rhiannon and everyone who makes Aria Code - Bravo!!!!

I’ve been longing for the podcast to return. Aria code is riveting. A jewel.

This show has made opera so much more accesible for me. I now know what to look for and now I can enjoy opera for what it is.

Great insights into the operas by people who truly know the art form. Deep thinkers and top artists. So glad you’re back!

This terrific podcast helps explain why, if we open our hearts and ears, Opera can move and excite us. I binged listened and will do it again. I love it. I hope there will be many, many more. Thanks

This has been one of my favorite podcasts in recent memory and it’s my first move when the people in my life express and interest in opera. While the scope and complexity is something that I love about opera, dissecting just a single aria is an excellent way to help people dip a toe into the incredibly deep waters of the genre. My only complaint/request is for the range of operas selected to increase. I have really enjoyed the recent episodes that dive into American and modern day operas (still waiting on something from Nixon in China or Galileo Galilei!) but I would LOVE to hear an Aria Code episode that dives into a piece of Mongolian opera, which is underrated and often unexplored.

Thanks for putting together such amazing contents. Love the structure of recent episodes.

Absolutely the best. Wonderful wonderful podcast

I’m not an opera expert, but listening to it, immersing myself in the notes, truly gives me all the feels. I can’t say enough good words about this podcast, and I’m SO happy to discover this exists.

You don’t have to be an opera lover to love Aria Code. of course it is about opera, but it is so much more. Rhiannon Giddens is a singular talent. This is a podcast not to miss.

I’ve listened to several. I love the idea but am very frustrated that you do not play the entire aria in the beginning. To hear it behind people talking, as interesting as they are, is disappointing. Play the entire aria in beginning and end.

Amazing podcast—glad it’s back for another season. The music and the deep dive into each aria are blended together so beautifully! Any chance we could dive into Lensky’s ‘Kuda, Kuda?’ From Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin? I’d love to see what Aria Code could do with it. Keep the music coming!

This podcast is truly amazing. It was from the beginning, but season 2 is an exponential step upward. Great, great arias decoded and performed. What astounds me the most about this podcast is not the performances themselves (No one can match Leontyne Price's "Un Bel Di" for example, but Rhiannon Giddens wit and charm as host and her (and I assume her staff) uncanny ability to put together three or four guest who are not only knowledgeable about the music and the meaning, but have personal stories that perfectly interweave with the themes of the operas. How does she do that? Where does she find these people? It's a mystery to me, but one I do not have to solve, merely to enjoy. I don’t know who wrote the above, but I agree with everything except I think season 2 is as good as, not better than season 1 which is not to diminish season 2 in the slightest.

Bringing together the human themes, the musical background and the original story in a moving and compelling way.

This is one of my all time favorite podcasts. I am not very knowledgeable about opera and the podcast is my introduction to many of the operas covered. Each episode perfectly weaves the music and narrative of the featured opera and one of its arias. Thank you for creating another season.

Whether you are an opera expert or you are just curious and finding your way into this wonderful world, this is a fantastic podcast. I am very grateful to see it back for a new season.

I’m so excited this podcast is back!!! It’s simply wonderful!

So much more opera to do. If you need to insert ads I could live with that to get more Aria Code!

Please consider bringing it back. Very enjoyable with lots to learn about and extremely well produced.

This was an absolute joy. If not this, do another series with Rhiannon Giddens. She’s a national treasure.

I loved this episode. My wife and I saw this opera live in HD in November 2019 and loved it. We also visited the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2008 and learned a bit about Akhenaten. So it was very enjoyable not only to listen to this podcast, but also to learn a lot about the opera, Philip Glass, and Akhenaten, courtesy of Rhiannon and her guests. Thanks for the enrichment!

This was so wonderfully informative and enhanced my appreciation of Opera. Thank you so much.

Is this podcast still “in business?”

Brilliant idea to focus on a single aria. I have learned so much from this podcast and look forward to every episode.

I listen to books and podcasts while doing all sorts of things in my daily “retired” life. Once I got this on my radar, I don’t think I’ll be listening to anything else until I am completely caught up - and I predict, I’ll be desperately waiting for more! It’s just so deeply satisfying on so many levels. Thank you, thank you, thank you Rhiannon Giddens!