The Classical inspirations of Opera

Here is a request from one of our long- standing ARLT members:

 

Our N.Staffs CA branch is seeking a speaker on what might be called ‘the classical inspirations of opera’ as members have expressed an interest in hearing a lecture, from the classical perspective, on how opera has been informed by classical literature, myth and history. 

We seek a speaker, who is a classicist and who appreciates that the basic hybrid format of Greek tragedy is not just the ‘inspiration’ of opera but its direct origin and parent.

We are a branch with a sprinkling of classics “professionals” but composed mainly of interested amateurs so to speak, together with some with no background in the Classics at all. The age range is from (occasionally) secondary school to well into retirement age, but is certainly not one of the oldest aged membership of branches in the country. Normal attendance is from 15 -25, although we do have nearly 60 local members. We usually provide an evening meal after the talk, if the speaker can remain with us, and overnight accommodation can be offered when needed (and of course travelling expenses).
If you can help, or can suggest someone, please contact Monica Swnburne

After 2,000 years, ‘carpe diem’ still resonates in home town of Horace

From the Vancouver Sun:

A statue of Horace  stands in the centre of a square in his home town of Venosa. The Latin poet, who lived from 65 BC to 8 BC, is much celebrated in the small, southern Italian city. A hotel and a school are named after him, and excerpts from his works are displayed on outdoor wall panels that are lit up after dark

VENOSA, Italy – Horace, the great Latin poet of ancient Rome, was confident of his literary legacy: “I have achieved a monument more lasting than bronze, and loftier than the pyramids of kings,” he wrote in one of his celebrated odes.

His physical monument here is an impressive tribute — maybe a bit too impressive.

Erected in his birthplace of Venosa in 1898, the larger-than-life-size bronze depicts a tall, perfectly proportioned, toga-clad figure — despite the fact that Horace described himself as being short and stout.

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