The Santa Fe Opera announced a digital initiative exploring the literary works behind the operas planned for its 2021 Festival Season. Consider the Source Conversations and Seminars start January 19 and run through May 20.

The Consider the Source Conversations are free and premiere on the opera’s YouTube channel on January 19, February 16, March 16, April 20, and May 18, with each beginning at 6:00 p.m. MT. Conversations run for 25 minutes.

Consider the Source Seminars go deeper into the material and include a discussion and opportunities for participants to contribute. The Seminars begin on January 21(sold out), with sessions on February 18, March 18, April 22, and May 20. There is a fee for individual Seminars. Tickets for the entire series are also available.

The company encourages participants to read the material prior to attending a Conversation or Seminar.

Leading the Conversations and Seminars is Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, a scholar, and translator specializing in the relationship between text and music. She holds a Ph. D. in Italian and Comparative Literature, and her current book traces the influence of Richard Wagner on the modern novel. Rhodes has been a member of the company’s Titles Department since 2000.

Below are the schedule and book list. The Santa Fe Opera is encouraging participants to support independent bookstores when purchasing source material.

January 19, 6 pm MT: Conversation with Megan Marino (“The Marriage of Figaro”)

January 21: 2 pm MT: Seminar on Beaumarchais’ The Figaro Trilogy: The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, “The Guilty Mother.” (Please note that this Seminar is sold out).

February 16, 6 pm MT: Conversation with Netia Jones (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”)

February 18, 2 pm MT: Seminar on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

March 16, 6 pm MT: Conversation with Etienne Dupuis and Nicole Car (“Eugene Onegin”)

March 18, 2 pm MT: Seminar on Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse.”

April 20, 6 pm MT: Conversation with John Corigliano and Mark Adamo (“The Lord of Cries”)

April 22, 2 pm MT: Seminar on Stoker’s “Dracula.”

May 18, 6 pm MT: Conversation with surprise guests (“The Lord of Cries”)

May 20, 2 pm MT: Seminar on Euripides’ “Euripides V: Bacchae, Iphigenia in Aulis, The Cyclops, Rhesus.”

January
Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin Caron de. “The Figaro Trilogy: The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, The Guilty Mother.” Translated by David Coward. First edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

February
Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Ann Thompson, David Scott, H. R. Woudhuysen and Richard Proudfoot. The Arden Shakespeare Third Series. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

March
Pushkin, Alexander. “Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse” Translated by James E. Falen. Reissue edition. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

April
Stoker, Bram. “Dracula.” Edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. First edition. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996.

May
Euripides. “Euripides V: Bacchae, Iphigenia in Aulis, The Cyclops, Rhesus.” Edited by Mark Griffith, Glenn W. Most, David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Translated by William Arrowsmith, Charles Walker and Richmond Lattimore. Third edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.