Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Visionary opera director Yuval Sharon presents the 2025 Berlin Family Lectures. Picking up on a line from his new book, A New Philosophy of Opera (2024), Sharon explores the question under his theme of "Anarchy at the Opera": Is opera a standard bearer or a pall bearer for the status quo?
These lectures explore both historic experiments in non-hierarchical creation—John Cage’s Europeras and the history of improvisation in opera—as well as Sharon’s own practical experiences with “anarchic” opera.
The final lecture concludes with a rare live performance of John Cage’s Europera 5, directed by Sharon, as a demonstration of the ideas explored in his talks.
Visionary opera director Yuval Sharon presents the 2025 Berlin Family Lectures. Picking up on a line from his new book, A New Philosophy of Opera (2024), Sharon explores the question under his theme of "Anarchy at the Opera": Is opera a standard bearer or a pall bearer for the status quo?
These lectures explore both historic experiments in non-hierarchical creation—John Cage’s Europeras and the history of improvisation in opera—as well as Sharon’s own practical experiences with “anarchic” opera.
The final lecture concludes with a rare live performance of John Cage’s Europera 5, directed by Sharon, as a demonstration of the ideas explored in his talks.
