Theseus Operas

Thursday, November 28, 2013 - 2:15pm
Stephen Langridge (Director)
Lecture Theatre, 66 St Giles', Oxford

The talk will discuss the relationship between myth and music theatre/opera from the point of view of the stage director, with particular reference to Harrison Birtwistle's The Mask of Orpheus (1986).  It will then discuss three very different operas about the myth of Theseus: Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), Handel's Arianna in Creta (1734), and Birtwistle's The Minotaur (2008).  Stephen Langridge has directed all these works, including the premiere of The Minotaur at the Royal Opera House in London. His version of Wagner's Parsifal is currently on stage at the Royal Opera House.