Tuesday 22 January 2019, 10.30am
Love & Duty in Verdi’s operas
Few other composers have so perfectly explored the complexity of duty vs. personal relationships like Verdi. Focusing on some of his most well-known compositions, this lecture...
Wednesday 23 January 2019, 7.15pm
Your chance to hear Tusk’s Ambassador, the explorer and author Levison Wood, recounting tales from his most ambitious expedition yet - a 5,000-mile circumnavigation of the...
Tuesday 29 January 2019, 10.30am
The tragedy of Silence. Puccini, Orientalism & Miscommunication
In this lecture Becca Marriott will explore the concepts of Exoticism and Orientalism in verismo opera and how Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Turandot uphold and defy our ideas...
Tuesday 5 February 2019, 10.30am
The spectrum of romantic declaration in the tenor repertoire
Love is the tenor's realm. Look through any compilation of tenor arias from history's greatest operas and you will find that love and romance is the overwhelming theme. That word...
Tuesday 12 February 2019, 10.30am
The famous and forgotten of operatic history
As an art form, opera stands entirely alone; a unique blend of music, drama, poetry and emotion. It is as addictive, glamorous and fascinating now as it was at its...
Tuesday 19 February 2019, 10.30am
Now in its sixth year, the Opera Prelude Singers’ Prize offers one of our young singers the unique chance of private masterclasses with Della Jones, one of Great Britain’s...
Tuesday 26 February 2019, 10.30am
Droit du Seigneur in the #metoo age
A musical insight with Michael Chance accompanied by rising young mezzo-soprano Amy Lyddon who will be performing a range of arias.
Over more than 30 years, Michael Chance has...
Tuesday 5 March 2019, 10.30am
Italian conductor Renato Balsadonna was Chorus Director of the Royal Opera Chorus 2004–16, during which time he prepared the Royal Opera Chorus for all their productions with...
Tuesday 12 March 2019, 10.30am
with Jonathan Darnborough
Great opera composers have one thing in common - they combine musical genius with a strong dramatic gift. In this illustrated talk Jonathan Darnborough explores the techniques,...
Tuesday 19 March 2019, 10.30am
‘La dame aux Camelias’ was a real woman, Alphonsine Duplessis. But how much of her real character and story survived the journey from real life to novel, to stage play to...
Friday 22 March 2019, 7.00pm
Celebrating the breadth and quality of music at Reigate Grammar School, RGS in Concert will feature the school’s premier ensembles and choirs and will showcase some of its...
Tuesday 26 March 2019, 10.30am
The harp in opera
A discussion about the special relationship between the soprano voice and the harp in opera through the ages. This engaging duo has been performing together for a number of years...
Tuesday 2 April 2019, 10.30am
“I have never found a work as dangerously fascinating” (Nietzsche)
Join conductor Mark Austin for an engaging introduction to Wagner’s masterpiece. This lecture will explore one of the most influential compositions ever written, and why it came...
Tuesday 9 April 2019, 10.30am
Nigel Bates was Principal Percussionist of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden. In this morning’s talk, he takes a look at the history, architecture and life...
Tuesday 16 April 2019, 10.30am
“When I hear music... I always hear colour complexes in my mind” (Messiaen)
What do you feel when listening to music? Can you see colours, images, geometrical objects, and how does music play on all of our senses? Franz Liszt famously asked orchestral...
