by admin | Oct 11, 2024
Ever notice that French-language opera doesn’t get the same time in the programming spotlight as Italian-language opera? No fair! I will dive into the rich history of French opera and focus especially on the cultural, aesthetic, and musical world of French grand... 
by admin | Sep 28, 2024
My introductory lecture for this particular seminar sets up a day of exploration and critique critique Puccini’s Madama Butterfly—of one of the most popular, and also thematically challenging, works of the operatic canon. I will look at the historical background... 
by admin | Sep 28, 2024
The kick-off seminar for LAUSD teachers and other opera-curious people! We open with an overview of the art form, and my talk will look at the three “pillars” of opera—the music, dramatic text (libretto), and stage production. In this brief introduction,... 
by admin | May 6, 2024
My presentation for this special Turandot seminar—an initiative of LA Opera Connects—will set the opera in the context of Puccini’s Italy and highlight significant stylistic elements in the composer’s final work, still incomplete when he died. Crafted... 
by admin | Jan 26, 2024
Los Angeles Opera presents a double feature of neglected one-act operas : Alexander Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg (The Dwarf, 1922) and William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA, which was first completed in 1946, but had to wait nearly two decades for its premiere. My...