LEARN ABOUT OPERA

AN INTRODUCTION to
VERDI’s
“RIGOLETTO”

MONDAY, JAN 12, 2026
at 4 pm

Verdi’s sixteenth opera RIGOLETTO (1851) marks an “important” turning point in the history of opera.
It signals a new, radical, more sophisticated and dramatic change in Verdi’s approach to the art form.

Iain Scott will show you where to identify the “new” and “old” Verdi styles and will explain the new direction in which Verdi was evolving and developing.

The COC’s production of RIGOLETTO will open on January 24th 2026. There will be six more performances, ending on February 14th.

AN INTRODUCTION to
ROSSINI’S
“The BARBER of SEVILLE”

MONDAY, JAN 26, 2026
at 4 pm

Although Rossini began his career by writing one-act farces for Venice, most of his subsequent 39 operas for major Italian houses and for Paris were major serious works, designated as “dramas”.

The BARBER of SEVILLE (1816) is the best known of his few mature light comedies. It is now # 8 on the list of the top-ten most frequently performed operas.

Iain Scott will point out key moments to listen for and will explain the underlying structural models that Rossini created which became the basis for nearly all Italian operas over the next four decades.

The COC’s production of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE will open on 5th February 2026. There will be seven more performances, ending on 21st February.

Lecture 1
DEVILS, the FAUSTIAN PACT
and the ETERNAL FEMININE

MONDAY, FEB. 9, 2026
at 4 pm

Goethe’s re- telling of the legend of Faust in the 1770s, with its exploration of good, evil, love and redemption has spawned more than 30 operas – most notably by Charles Gounod, Arrigo Boito and Hector Berlioz – and

Gustav Mahler set the final pages of Goethe’s Faust in his 8th Symphony (the Symphony of 1,000) emphasizing the redeeming power of “the eternal feminine”.

Weber’s Der Freischütz and Igor Stravinski Rake’s Progress highlight similar pacts with the Devil and Giuseppe Verdi explored Joan of Arc’s controversial pact with the Devil in his Giovanna D’Arco. Finally, Anton Dvorak found fun with his Kate and the Devil.

Lecture 2
SLAVIC MYTHS and LEGENDS
RIDDLES, MYSTERIES and ENIGMAS

MONDAY, FEB. 16, 2026
at 4 pm

Churchill described Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

Russian myths were the focus of Nicolai Rimsky Korsakov’s operatic writing, including his Golden Cockerell, Legend of Tsar Saltan, Sadko, the Snow Maiden and the Invisible City of Kitezh.

Dvorak similarly explored Czech myths including his Rusalka.

The others in Russia’s “mighty five” composers were more interested in the Legendary aspects of Russia’s history, including Glinka’s A Life for the Czar and Borodin’s Prince Igor.

Lecture 3
FAIRY TALES
The USES of ENCHANTMENT

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2026
at 4 pm

Bruno Bettelheim’s 1976 book “the Uses of Enchantment” raised awareness of the power of fairy tales for both children and adults.

From the writings of Charles Perrault, to Hans Christian Andersen, to the Brothers Grimm, and on to JRR Tolkien and Stephen Sondheim – there has been a cornucopia of subject matter for opera composers.

We will sample Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Rossini’s Cenerentola, Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges and Britten’s Paul Bunyan, amongst others, and consider if Bettelheim’s analyses still hold water.

Lecture 4
SUPERNATURAL
BLACK and WHITE MAGIC

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026
at 4 pm

Opera is full of mysterious eclipses, supernatural witches, the incantations of wizards, and many forms of scary paranormal phenomena.

From Handel’s Alcina and Rinaldo to Mozart’s Don Giovanni, to Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, to Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel – we can be intrigued and maybe even scared by links beyond our normal experience.

There are zombies in Wagner’s the Flying Dutchman, ghosts (phantoms of the opera?) in Tchaikovsky’s the Queen of Spades, Britten’s the Turn of the Screw, Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, Verdi’s Macbeth … and many, many others.