The annual Hillman Opera Lecture, which will be held this year in conjunction with upcoming performances of Gioacchino Rossini’s, “La Cenerentola,” will be presented on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. at the Japanese Garden Area of Reed Library.
Melina Esse, associate professor of Musicology at Eastman School of Music and one of the world’s foremost experts on 19th century Italian opera, will give a lecture on the operas of Rossini. Dr. Esse has written articles that have been published in the Cambridge Opera Journal, The Opera Quarterly, Current Musicology and other publications. She is currently writing a book, “Saffo’s Lyre: Neoclassicism and Improvisation in Italian Opera,” which deals with connections between poetic improvisation and operatic performance in 19th century Italy.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Hillman Memorial Music Association, with assistance from the Department of Music History, Theory and Composition, Department of Opera and Musical Theater and Reed Library.
