In this episode of Naked Age, we meet composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Lehrman and soprano Helene Williams, whose lives together have unfolded at the unlikely intersection of opera, political activism and naturism.
Leonard’s musical life connects him to some of the defining artists and political movements of the twentieth century, from studying with Nadia Boulanger and Elie Siegmeister to working in the orbit of Leonard Bernstein, championing the music of Marc Blitzstein, attending the March on Washington and drawing inspiration from historian Howard Zinn. In 1987, Helene auditioned for the title role in Leonard’s E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman. The collaboration that followed became both an artistic partnership and, eventually, a marriage.
Together, Leonard and Helene brought opera, cabaret and musical theater into naturist spaces around the world. Their performances could move from Bernstein and Rossini to political songs, mermaid operas, naked cabaret and Leonard’s own Naturist Anthem, sometimes with considerably less costuming than an opera audience might expect. Their story asks what happens when a lifetime devoted to serious music, radical politics and individual freedom refuses to keep those things in separate boxes.
Listen to all episodes of Naked Age at www.nakedage.co, or find them wherever you get your podcasts. 🪐
Uncensored episode with show notes:
Opera Without Costume
In this episode of Naked Age, we meet composer Leonard Lehrman and soprano Helene Williams, whose decades-long partnership has brought together opera, activism, and naturism. From Emma Goldman and Marc Blitzstein to the Naturist Anthem and performances around the world, their story explores the surprising intersections between art, politics, and body freedom.
YouTube version:
More Naked Age:
What is Naked Age?
Naked Age is a history podcast series profiling remarkable people who have gone to extraordinary lengths to live a nude life.
Naked Age is an interview series profiling activists, artists, individualists and misfits who have a singular point of view on the world.
Listen to past episodes at www.nakedage.co.