Opera League Seminar: Verdi's La Traviata
Event Start Date: 3/30/2024 11:30 AM
Event End Date: 3/30/2024 1:00 PM
Event Locations
Thayer Concert Hall at The Colburn School - 200 S Grand Ave.
LA TRAVIATA
SEMINAR
19th-Century Parisian Courtesans: A Feminist's Perspective
with
TIFFANY KUO
Professor of Music, Mount San Antonio College and Colburn Conservatory of Music
Saturday, March 30, 2024
Thayer Hall, Colburn School
200 S Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
11:30 Refreshments
Noon Presentation
Guest speaker Tiffany Kuo provides background information on Verdi's classic opera. The lecture will explore the evolving roles of working women in mid-19th century Paris. After the patriarchal order of Napoleon, women's quest for independence grew socially and politically.
Among the various strata of sex workers, courtesans represented the apex, captivating society with their influence and power. These women were not merely figments of fiction found in novels and operas; they were real-life figures who authored their own destinies. Through a comparative analysis of fictional narratives and non-fictional accounts, we will seek a fuller backdrop to Verdi's La traviata.
Professor Tiffany Kuo is a conservatory-trained pianist and liberal-arts educated musicologist. She is on faculty at Mt. San Antonio College and at the Colburn Conservatory. She is also an affiliated scholar at Los Angeles Opera.