The San Francisco Opera Lecture Series program is back!
The San Francisco Opera Guild sponsors a series of lectures, in various Bay Area locales, to share and promote the splendid productions of the San Francisco Opera. Silicon Valley opera lovers benefit from this program, as lectures, co-sponsored with the San José Opera Guild and the APJCC, are held at the APJCC, in Los Gatos. These are university level presentations, full of music selections, video clips and insights.
The opera Don Giovanni is one of Mozart’s best known operas. It is still performed in the opera house in Prague, in which it premiered on 29 October 1787. It was built as a Drama with Jokes (a dramedy?) by its librettist, de Ponte, yet it begins with a murder -- a murder with surprising consequences. The story is that of one day in the life of the well-known libertine/seducer, Don Juan (or in Italian, Don Giovanni). Yet, despite all his attempts, he does not succeed at all during this one day. His targets, in various ways but always to wonderful music, lead to frustration. Is Don Giovanni embarrassed by this? Not at all, and he stays true to his principles, if you can call them that, to the bitter end. Our lecturer, Derek Katz, an Associate Professor of Music History at the University of California, Santa Barbara is a specialist in Czech music. (This opera did premier in what is now the Czech Republic, after all.) He will help us understand the ranks of society, with which Don Giovanni toys, and how Mozart portrays this in his music. He is also a violinist and member of a string quartet (during the summer).
All lectures take place at the APJCC, on Wednesdays, from 10:00 a.m. - Noon. Free for SJOG, APJCC and SFOG members. $10 for Non-Members, at the door. Masks recommended. Attendees must bring a picture ID for admittance to the JCC.