Various members of the cast keep saying that Laura Booth (Marin Ireland) was being considered for the position of First Violin. There is no such position in a modern American orchestra. Such a violinist would be called the concertmaster or the first chair. The concertmaster leads the "first violin section."
Possibly inspired by the Helen Mintiks case from July 1980. Helen, violinist at the Metropolitan Opera House, did not appear for the second half of a performance, after a break. As here, her valuable violin was left on her chair. A full search of the opera house conducted over 12 hours uncovered her body and led to a protracted investigation.
In the opening sequence of this episode, the opera depicted in performance is "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti. In the soundtrack of this episode, the recording of the opera being used is one released on the London Records label in 1961 with soprano Joan Sutherland and tenor Renato Cioni.
Dramma giocoso--in Italian, literally, drama with jokes--is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. A dramma giocoso characteristically used a grand buffo (comic or farce) scene as a dramatic climax at the end of an act. [01.27.2020]
Opera singer Gillian Booth refers to conductor Philip Reinhardt (actor Julian Sands) as "my Siegfried," an adoring reference to the hero of composer Richard Wagner's epic opera-cycle "Der Ring Des Nibelungen." Coincidentally, Sands appeared in the film "Ring of the Nibelungs (2004)"--not as Siegfried, but in a villainous role. Sands also portrayed Wagner's father-in-law, composer Franz Liszt, in the film "Impromptu (1991)."