Even if you’ve never been to an opera, you’re probably familiar with tunes by Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner. How can music written 180 years ago speak to us today? Verdi and Wagner were trailblazers in a world where opera offered a throughline for the emerging modern culture, blending beauty with politics, psychology, religion and myth. And they are still trailblazers. Wagner’s “music-drama” still terrifies us in films by Hitchcock and Coppola, and amuses us in Looney Tunes. Verdi toppled tyrants and wrote the best drinking song of all time. We’ll explore iconic works like La Traviata, Aida, and the Everest of operas, The Ring Cycle. We’ll also examine lesser-known works that remain beloved by audiences today. All “opera curious” are welcome.