Ian Bostridge: “Musical Identities” - Lecture 2: Hidden Histories

Acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge looks at how classical music can express the inexpressible: the nature of existence; the fluidity of identity; the inevitability of death. Through three Berlin Family Lectures focused on “Musical Identities,” Bostridge sets out to explore and evaluate some of the works at the very center of the classical vocal repertoire, asking how they construct identities—historically, poetically, and musically.

Registration is free of charge and open to the public.
These Berlin Family Lectures will be delivered on Zoom Webinar.

Lecture 2: Hidden Histories

Introduction and discussion with Anne Walters Robertson, Dean, Division of the Humanities and Claire Dux Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities in the College

The hidden history of colonialism in the classical music repertoire is rarely acknowledged in the concert hall. This lecture will explore it by taking as a case study Maurice Ravel's Chansons Madécasses (Songs of Madagascar), a staple of the vocal repertoire, originally composed in the 1920s.