Tedrin's Commentary on the Spring 2010 Season
To coincide with UK Opera Theatre's production of Die Fledermaus , I will devote the first four class sessions this semester to an overview of European operetta, the lighter, brighter, and usually sillier cousin of grand opera. We will focus on works by Jacques Offenbach, Gilbert & Sullivan, and Johann Strauss II, as well as later examples of this genre by Lehár and Puccini. We will then end the semester with a serious study of one of the grandest of all grand operas, Verdi's Aida .
Spring 2010 Schedule
13 February The Operetta in Paris: Jacques Offenbach
La Belle Hélène (1864), La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867), Orphée aux enfers (1858/74), La Périchole (1868/74)
20 February The Operetta in London: Gilbert & Sullivan
H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879),
The Mikado (1885)
27 February The Operetta in Vienna: Johann Strauss II
Die Fledermaus (1874), DerZigeunerbaron (1885)
13 March European Operetta: The Second Generation
FranzLehár – Die lustigeWitwe (The Merry Widow ) (1905)
Giacomo Puccini – La Rondine (1917/19)
3 April In Depth with Verdi's Aida, (1871) – Acts 1 and 2
10 April In Depth with Verdi's Aida, (1871) – Acts 3 and 4
