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Hallelujah, it's Handel!
As the Baroque era shifted in Europe, the excitement moved back to Britain. Purcell (1659-1695) had provided the early Baroque music and...
Lyn Richards
3 days ago5 min read
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Rameau's last laugh
The operas of the "greatest French composer of the century" were mainly about gods, with the exception of Platée , which is about...
Lyn Richards
Apr 25 min read
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Lully: the Sun King’s musician
Born in Florence, 1632, with musical and dancing skills, Lully made his way from Italian city life to become first, 'chamber boy' to a...
Lyn Richards
Mar 253 min read
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Dido in England
Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is widely seen as the dawn of English Baroque - and the best of British opera - at least before Britten. It...
Lyn Richards
Mar 196 min read
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If Love's a Sweet Passion...
Enter Henry Purcell, the leading - indeed pretty much only - creator of Baroque opera (and then only one) in Britain. Titania, Bottom...
Lyn Richards
Mar 103 min read
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Opera goes public
What could go wrong for Cavalli? His singing voice was beautiful, his father was the maestro di cappella of the duomo of Crema,...
Lyn Richards
Feb 256 min read
65 views
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A new Nero?
Emperor Nero has been likened to many leaders in our times, most recently of course, to Trump. The comparison is not pretty, and it...
Lyn Richards
Feb 192 min read
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Enter real people
The Coronation of Poppea premieres in 1643, 36 years after L'Orfeo , at the end of Monteverdi's life. He is 76. So much has happened...
Lyn Richards
Feb 127 min read
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Opera is born
For Monteverdi , "The end of all good music is to affect the soul". To do this, good music communicates ideas, speaks of thoughts and...
Lyn Richards
Feb 34 min read
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Welcome '25!
Our Opera Group is entering its tenth year. We've explored opera in every century and most countries, and we've never run out of new...
Lyn Richards
Jan 66 min read
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