November 9, 2016
6:00pm EST
CBA Public Program
Studio, The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU
16 Cooper Square, New York NY 10003
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Participants joined us for a discussion about Larry Wolff’s new book, The Singing Turk, about 18th-century operas and understanding this cultural phenomenon in the context of European-Ottoman relations.

This book is about the huge repertory of (mostly now forgotten) operas about Turks that were performed during the long 18th century (from the 1680s to the 1820s), including works by Handel, Rameau, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and Rossini, as well as many other less well known composers.

The discussion considered what the figure of the singing Turk meant in European Enlightenment culture, and, more generally, how such operas may be considered in the context of the Christian-Muslim encounter in European history. This event was co-sponsored with the NYU Center for the Humanities.

Speakers:

Larry Wolff, Silver Professor of History and Director, Center for European and Mediterranean Studies, NYU
Leslie Peirce, Silver Professor of History, NYU
Michael Beckerman, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music, NYU