On Music

Lecture

On Music Musical Paris in the Early 20th Century:
Gershwin, Ravel, Stravinsky and Others

Fred Plotkin, lecturer

Some beloved cities become musical capitals when many of the best and brightest composers and performers flock there. Such was the case in Paris in the early 20th century, when it also attracted the finest visual artists and writers. These creators inspired French musicians, including Debussy, Poulenc, Ravel and Satie, and foreigners, such as Gershwin, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Join Fred Plotkin to discover cultural Paris when it sizzled.

This presentation is part of Fred Plotkin's On Music series.

Fred Plotkin

Fred Plotkin

Fred Plotkin is one of the world’s leading experts on opera, food and wine and everything Italian. He is the author of Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera (the standard text in America for opera education); Classical Music 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Classical Music; and six definitive books on Italian food. He has worked for many opera companies, including La Scala (as a Fulbright Scholar) and the Metropolitan Opera. He lectures regularly at the Smithsonian Institution, NYU and the University of Oxford. In 2010, he was named America’s wine journalist of the year. He organized and led food and opera trips for The New York Times Journeys before the program ended in 2021. In 2015, he was made a Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia, the Italian equivalent of a knighthood and an honor rarely accorded to foreigners.