INTERNATIONAL ORPHEUS ACADEMY FOR MUSIC & THEORY 2008
´Music Theoretical Dimensions of 18th Century Opera´
with a focus on Mozart´s Don Giovanni
March 26 through March 29, 2008
PICTURES available here
The year 2008 saw Orpheus Institute´s sixth edition of its "International Orpheus Academy for Music Theory".
The Orpheus Academy 2008´s theme was "Music Theoretical Dimensions of 18th Century Opera". Opera´s complex and intricate structure confronted theorists and performers alike with daunting challenges. Though the expert combination of text, context, dramatic and musical elements is what this fascinating genre is all about, it also raises some questions regarding the creation, the performance and the interpretation of such works. The rich 18th-century opera tradition provided the starting point for this Academy. In keeping with our desire to cover a clearly defined and thematically focused subject, this Academy edition focused on Mozart´s "Don Giovanni".
From a broader music-theoretical perspective, most subjects covered were closely linked to performance practice. The Academy 2008 edition concentrated on literary and historic, biographical, music-analytical, compositional and performance-oriented aspects.
The following six guest professors considered the theme:
Julian Rushton - Emeritus Professor of Music, University of Leeds, U.K.
"Don Giovanni and the nature of opera"
Kenneth Montgomery - conductor, Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, the Netherlands
"Mozart´s Don Giovanni: interpretation and performance" (workshop)
Javier López Piñón - stage director, New Opera Academy, Amsterdam/The Hague, the Netherlands
"Words and gestures: acting in the 18th century" (joint with Kenneth Montgomery)
James Webster - Goldwin Smith Professor of Music at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
"Towards a theory of the ensemble"
"Mozart´s finales: Relations between Dramatic and Musical Construction"
Stefan Rohringer - professor of Music Theory, Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, Germany
"The two Don Ottavios: Mozart´s modified perspective on his primo uomo in the Vienna version of Don Giovanni"
"Mozart and the Sublime: On the relation of the Prague Symphony and the Ouverture of Don Giovanni"
Sergio Durante - director of the department of Art and Music History, University Padua, Italy
"Mozart´s Don Giovanni then and now"
"Types of structures in Mozart´s Don Giovanni"
For biographies on the guest speakers, click here For abstracts of the lectures/workshops, click here Download the Orpheus Academy 2008 Schedule