Four talks about
operas set in SPAIN

In this series of four one-hour lectures,
originally delivered for CLASSI LECTURES,
Iain takes us first to ANDALUCIA (the south of Spain) were he features some of the hundreds of operas set in Seville, including the Beaumarchais operas, plus Don Giovanni, Fidelio, the Force of Destiny and, of course, Carmen.

In his second lecture, he takes us to CASTILE, ARAGON and LA MANCHA (Central Spain) for three more Verdi operas: “Ernani”, “Il Trovatore” and “Don Carlo”. We also encounter a couple of French operas, Massenet’s “Don Quichotte” and Ravel’s “L’heure Espagnole.”

In his third talk we visit the north of Spain – the PYRENEES – to discover Vivaldi’s “Orlando Furioso”, Handel’s “Orlando”, Wagner’s “Parsifal”, Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’Amore”, and Massenet’s “Le Cid”.

In his final talk, Iain takes us to the SPANISH EMPIRE including visits to Spanish Italy with Verdi’s “Force of Destiny”, and to Peru with Verdi’s “Alzira” and Offenbach’s “La Périchole”. We will also visit El Dorado and Dutch Surinam for Bernstein’s “Candide” and Portuguese territory for Catán’s “Florencia en el Amazonas”.

Five talks about
operas set in PARIS

For centuries, Paris has been both a “model”
and a “magnet” – the richest and most dominant city in Europe.

As a “model”, Parisian fashions in architecture, dress, literature and music radiated across the continent. Parisian cultural influence on Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain is unparalleled.

As a “magnet”, it attracted the world’s greatest artists and innovators – and any success in Paris ensured not only widespread fame, but also unprecedented financial rewards.

As a result, nearly all of the greatest opera composers, both domestic and foreign-born (e.g. Lully, Rameau, Gluck, Meyerbeer, Verdi, Wagner, Bizet, Massenet, Debussy, etc.) created their greatest works for Paris.

And the city of Paris is the place-setting for many of the world’s most famous and most loved operas (e.g. Manon, La Bohème, La Traviata, Andrea Chénier, etc.).

In this five-part course,
originally delivered for CLASSI LECTURES,
Iain uses a loose historical framework to trace the development of operas created for the city, and to illustrate operas, composed in later times, set in each period of the city’s fascinating history.

Three talks about
operas set in ROME

In his first lecture, “ANCIENT ROME“, Iain revisits the foundation myths of Rome (with the Trojan hero Aeneas forging the alliances which created the first Roman people). We learn how the initial rule of the first seven Kings was broken by the crucial exile of Tarquin the Proud in 509 BCE. And then, in the lengthy Republican period (to 27 BCE), we follow the fortunes of Lucius Sulla in his civil war against Gaius Marius and the subsequent civil wars between Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar. This section ends with the court intrigues at the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty surrounding the Emperor Nero, and then the tumultuous imperial succession of the new Flavian dynasty featuring the extraordinary mercy of the Emperor Titus.

In his second talk, Iain explores “MEDIEVAL and PAPAL ROME“, featuring operas about the disastrous mid-13^th century pilgrimage to the Lateran of Heinrich Tannhauser, the astonishing mid-14th century imperial revival of Rome under Cola di Rienzi, and the heroic mid-16^th century triumph of the brilliant sculptor Benvenuto Cellini – none of which shows the Papacy in a very favourable light.

In his final talk, Iain explores “MODERN ROME“, beginning with the dramatic events of June 1800, as Napoleon’s second invasion of Italy created an existential crisis for the Neapolitan monarchical authorities in Rome. He explores the three key Roman locations dramatized by Victorien Sardou and later adapted by Giacomo Puccini in TOSCA. Finally, in lighter vein, Iain follows the misfortunes of the elderly Roman bachelor, Don PASQUALE and ends with a visit to the CURRENT OPERA HOUSES of the Italian capital city.

These talks were originally delivered for CLASSI LECTURES.

Three talks about
operas set in SCOTLAND

In this course,
originally delivered for CLASSI LECTURES,
Iain uses selected operas set in Scotland to explore THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITALIAN OPERA from the mid 18th century to the mid-19^th century.

In his first lecture, “HANDEL’S SCOTLAND“,
Iain examines Handel’s florid writing for his Castrati in his opera seria “ARIODANTE” from 1734, focusing on two contrasting da capo arias, “Scherza, infida” which demonstrates seething resentment at betrayal, and “Dopo notte” which exults in the feeling of sunshine after night has passed.

In his second lecture, “Sir WALTER SCOTT’S SCOTLAND“, Iain shows how the structure of Italian opera changed in the early 19th century. He focuses on Rossini’s (1819) setting of Scott’s narrative poem “The Lady of the Lake” and Donizetti’s (1835) version of Scott’s novel “The Bride of Lammermoor”, demonstrating their use of the new four-part scena “Rossini Code”.

In his final talk, Iain explores and contrasts “SHAKESPEARE and VERDI’S SCOTLAND” in “MACBETH”. He selects three solo scenes for Lady Macbeth: her “Letter Scene”, her “Sleepwalking Scene” and her “Paris aria”.
In the first scene, (her “Letter Scene”) he shows how Maffei and Verdi used Shakespeare’s verse structure to mirror the Rossini Code.
In the second scene, (her “Sleepwalking Scene”) he shows how Lady Macbeth’s disjointed, fragmentary hallucinations required a new approach to scene setting.
In the third scene, (her “Paris aria”) he shows how Verdi’s new style for Paris in 1865 contrasts with his 1847 “Galley years” style for the Pergola in Florence.