Event information
Italian novelist, playwright and essayist Alessandro Baricco gives a lecture recital on opera, illustrated with live musical excerpts performed by Opera UCT. The event is presented by the South African College of Music (SACM) in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute.
Baricco, born in Turin in 1958, trained in both philosophy and piano before beginning his career as a music critic for La Repubblica and La Stampa. He is best known internationally for novels including Silk and Ocean Sea, and for the theatrical monologue Novecento, later adapted into the film The Legend of 1900. Opera and music criticism run through much of his early written work and continue to shape his public lectures.
Rather than a straightforward literary talk, the format interweaves spoken commentary with live performance, giving audiences a chance to hear operatic excerpts directly connected to the ideas under discussion. The recital forms part of SACM's broader concert programme at the Baxter, which typically pairs visiting speakers and performers with student and staff musicians from the college.