Lectures by Will Crutchfield
Tuesday Morning Music Class
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Syllabus

Fall 2023
 10:30am-12:00pm
Darlington Hall, 2 E 90th Street, NYC
All sessions will be streamed on Zoom
Sept 26  Dead Man Walking  
The Met opener tags multiple topics: New opera, American opera, operas based on movies, and our leading house's grand experiment.  
 
Oct 17  Un ballo in maschera  
This is peak Verdi -- innovation and consolidated skill in perfect balance -- but it also has its quirky features. Surprising French influences made their way in, and the great tragedian was suddenly starting to appreciate dark comedy.
 
Oct 31  Malcolm X in history and opera   
One of the most surprising trends in modern opera is the treatment of historical figures close enough for some audience members to recall them -- and to have opinions pro or con. 
 
Nov 14  Florencia en las Amazonas  
The Spanish-speaking world has always loved opera, but opera in Spanish has barely any history at all. In the Americas, it may be the path of the future.
 
Nov 21  Tannhäuser  
Wagner was such a revolutionary, and Tannhäuser is so conservative and conventional, that it almost doesn't seem to belong to him. But its beauties have held it a spot in the core repertory.
 
Nov 28  Callas at 100: What does she mean to us now?  
Style icon, gossip-column celebrity, plaything of a playboy, triumphant diva and tragic recluse, and oh yes, first-rate musician: Maria Callas was a little of everything. We're still disentangling the confused threads of her biography, and meanwhile she is still the most influential singer nearly a half century after her death. 
 
Dec 12  Carmen  
The Met's New Year celebration is a new production of an evergreen, whose tunes are so singable that we might sometimes forget to notice its astonishing musical sophistication. But it's what lies behind the tunes that makes them magic. 

Questions? Please email WillCrutchfieldAssistant@gmail.com