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Collage of five diverse artworks from the Hammer Museum Collections side by side. From left to right: 1) Contemporary painting of two embracing figures with surreal elements. 2) Post-impressionist style painting of trees with vibrant blues and greens. 3) Black and white illustration of a face with intricate patterns. 4) Japanese woodblock print style image of a figure in a checkered robe. 5) Photograph of a couple dancing, the woman in a black dress and the man in white

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Susan McClary & Peter Sellars
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Susan McClary & Peter Sellars

  • This is a past program

This video is also posted on YouTube where you can access captions and a full transcript.

Copresented by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

Musicologist Susan McClary joins Peter Sellars to discuss The Passions of Peter Sellars, McClary's new book that traces the legendary theater director's career through his visually rich opera productions.

Recognized as one of the most innovative and influential directors of our time, Sellars has produced acclaimed—and often controversial—versions of many beloved operas and oratorios. He has also collaborated with several composers, including John C. Adams and Kaija Saariaho, to create challenging new operas. The Passions of Peter Sellars follows the development of his style, beginning with his interpretations of the Mozart-Da Ponte operas, proceeding to works for which he assembled the libretti and even the music, and concluding with his celebrated stagings of Bach’s passions with the Berlin Philharmonic.

As a leading scholar of gender and music, and the history of opera, McClary is ideally positioned to illuminate Sellars’s goal to address both the social tensions embodied in these operas as well as the spiritual dimensions of operatic performance.

Coffee, tea, and book signing to follow.

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