John Lazarus, as a young pianist, worked as a répétiteur for the Cape Town Opera Company, and has worked and performed with many individual singers. He was commissioned by Longman to write The Opera Handbook (published 1987), which covers two hundred operas. In 2013, when JW3 was established, John was asked to give a series of talks on operas, and a set of three talks every term became a regular feature, with the final series in autumn this year. As someone who feels he doesn’t contribute enough to the Kol Nefesh community, John was delighted to be asked to give a talk as part of the 18th birthday events!
The opera John will present is Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del destino.
La forza del destino is one of Verdi’s late, great Grand Operas - a sprawling epic in a world peopled by beggars, soldiers, new recruits, camp followers, monks, pilgrims, aristocrats and peasants. Rich in ideas, it deals with frustrated love, with the tensions between religion and independent thinking and with the bitter fall-out of obsessive racism. The Power of Destiny overrides everything, but nothing can cancel out the glorious beauty of Verdi’s inspired and eloquent music.
Date: Sunday May 13
Time: 3pm. The talk will last about an hour, and will be followed by light refreshments.
Venue: A member's home in Totteridge. Check your bulletin or contact us for the address.
Cost: Free. No booking necessary.