A lovelorn teenager dealing with emerging adolescent feelings; a maid who tells her mistress to never trust men and only rely on herself (though flirting is fine if it gets you what you want!); a servant who winds up the Capulets so much that they come out to the streets to fight - these interesting characters, pulling the strings behind the scenes, is what Naomi Rogers gave us an excellent preview of on 13th November.
This was an excellent introduction to opera for newbies, as well as an entertaining talk for afficionados. Naomi gave clear and funny explanations of the plots and characters of these different operas, along with english translations of their arias, before performing them beautifully. These secondary characters and their hijinks are very compelling, perhaps because they're not forced to be as virtuous as some of the lead roles!
Finally, the muse tells us to take solace from pain and heartbreak in music - a fitting ending for our final talk of 2020.