A lecture by Kate Bolton-Porciatti
This lecture sets the stage for the birth of opera – one of greatest art forms to emerge in 16th- century Florence. Drawing on contemporary letters, treatises and music examples, Kate Bolton-Porciatti explores how a group of Florentine intellectuals and musicians sought to revive the performance styles of ancient Greek tragedy, drawing on newly discovered fragments of Greek music to forge a new musical language. Their discussions and experiments led to staged ‘fables in music’ and to the first operas, based on the love-myths of Daphne and Apollo, Orpheus and Eurydice. The lecture will be illustrated with fragments of ancient Greek music and extracts from the first surviving operas by Florentine composers Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini. We will also virtually visit the palazzi where these works were staged, setting them in the broader context of Florentine music and politics.
If you are in Florence and would like to attend the lecture in person at the British Institute Library, please register here or send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it
The registration fee is 15 Euro per person.
To join this lecture online, simply click on this link to register and receive the Zoom meeting invitation: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/spcFbjizSOe9R3M5ubeZiA . The virtual doors will open at 18:00 Italian time on Wednesday 8th October.
The recording of the virtual lecture will be available for registered participants only. Clicking on the link above, you authorise the British Institute of Florence to use your image, name and comments.
There is no charge to attend the event on Zoom, but we ask you to consider making a donation to support the Institute and its beautiful library if you wish to attend an event.
The lecture is sponsored by Sylvia Cox