Thursday, April 28, 2011

Lecture with Iphigenie en Tauride Conductor William Lacey


In anticipation of the Washington National Opera premier of Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride, the Embassy of Greece and the WNO are proud to present a lecture with conductor William Lacey on Thursday, May 5 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. The event will be held at the Embassy of Greece, 2217 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington D.C. 20008.

Iphigenie en Tauride, composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, is one of the greatest operas from the classical period, and was also a hugely influential work. Mozart, Weber, Berlioz, Wagner
and Richard Strauss were all inspired by the nobility and dramatic power of Gluck's masterpiece. In rejecting the decorative, repetitive style of Baroque opera in favor of a new purity and intensity of expression, Gluck was himself inspired by ancient Greek drama.

In this lecture, William Lacey investigates how Gluck's reimagining of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles paved the way for the Romantic music-drama and the classic Greek heroine Ifigenia. Maestro Lacey, a regular conductor at leading opera houses around the world, brings extensive experience with operas of the Baroque and early Classical periods and will provide unique insight into the adaptation of Euripides’ work from Greek play to French opera.

To RSVP, please e-mail rsvpculture@greekembassy.org.

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