The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance - Skeptics, Libertines and Opera
In the summer of 1591 students from the University of Padua attacked the local Jesuit college and successfully appealed to the Venetian Senate to intervene on behalf of the university. When the Jesuits were expelled from the Venetian dominion a few years later, religious censorship was virtually eliminated. The result was a remarkable era of cultural innovation that promoted free inquiry in the face of philosophical and theological orthodoxy, advocated libertine morals, critiqued the tyranny of aristocratic fathers over their daughters, and expanded the theatrical potential of grand opera.
In his first novel, British author Stross, one of the hottest short-story writers in the field, serves up an energetic and sometimes satiric mix of cutting-edge nanotechnology, old-fashioned space opera and leftist political commentary reminiscent of Ken MacLeod. Spaceship engineer Martin Springfield and U.N. diplomat
In 1880 a legendary spectre haunts the famous Opera House in Paris. There are all sorts of rumours about the Phantom of the Opera, sinister figure whose face remains hidden behind a grotesque mask. But what is the connection between the phantom, the mysterious Angel of Music, and the beautiful singer Christine?
The book opens with a bloody discovery: the corpse of a young soprano who has been skewered with a prop from the WNO's soon-to-premiere production of Puccini's Tosca. As the media swarm, the company sets up its own task force, and Annabel asks Mac to be involved. Life imitates opera, and suddenly all the performers seem to have something to hide: passions for one another, histories better left uncovered, and even connections to foreign terrorists.
Course No. 740 (32 lectures, 45 minutes/lecture) Taught by Robert Greenberg San Francisco Performances 1. Introduction and Words and Music, I 2. Introduction and Words and Music, II 3. A Brief History of Vocal Expression in Music, I 4. A Brief History of Vocal Expression in Music, II 5. Invention of Opera and Monteverdi's Orfeo, I 6. Invention of Opera and Monteverdi's Orfeo, II 7. Invention of Opera and Monteverdi's Orfeo, III...and more
