Lecture/Listening Series
For many years, Opera Guild of Rochester has delivered free lectures on a wide range of opera topics. We do these to provide historical background and musical context for operas and composers, and to present operas that the audience might otherwise not have access to or that might prove difficult to understand or appreciate.
We look forward to the return of our lectures this fall, starting with our 9/22 and 10/6 events at Fairport Library. To supplement, you may browse our library of lectures and opera performance essays.
Fairport Library
Fairport Village Landing
FREE
Lecture/Listening Series
WEDNESDAY, SEPT.22, 2021 • 7–9pm
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Peter Dundas
Murder. Seduction. Jealousy. Revenge. Hear Peter describe this dramatic masterpiece by Mozart that's a favorite in the opera repertoire.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6 • 7–9pm
Opera Duets
Art Axelrod
Often, duets mark decisive moments in the drama. In this presentation, Art will explore some notable duets within the opera canon and watch how they are constructed, musically and dramatically.
Join us for a Don Giovanni lecture
on 9/22 presented by board member Peter Dundas and written by Agneta Borgstedt.
We’ll kick off this lecture with some historical context about the Don Juan figure and how Mozart crafted his Don Giovanni persona, blending this legendary and often despicable character into one of the most popular operas. References to works by Moliere, Pushkin, Lord Byron and George Bernard Shaw, all of whom worked with the Don Juan character will be included.
We’ll shift to share video clips from Bryn Terfel’s demonic portrayal of Don Giovanni in a MetOpera production also starring Renee Fleming. Famous arias will include “La ci darem la mano”, “Fin Ch’han dal vino” and “De, vieni all finestra” among other favorites.
Hei-Kyung Hong (Zerlina) performs Vedrai Carino in the Metropolitan Opera production of Don Giovanni.
Photo: MetOpera.