These lectures delivers a single narrative covering the history of the 50 jewelled Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs from the first egg in 1885 to their current whereabouts.  The eggs illustrate the attitudes that would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Romanovs: their apparent indifference to the poverty that choked their country; their preference for style over substance and their all-consuming concern with the health of the sickly heir – a preoccupation that would propel them toward Rasputin and the doom of the dynasty.  

After the Revolution, the eggs embarked on a journey that included embattled Bolsheviks, acquisitive members of the British royal family, eccentric salesmen, and famous business and society figures.  Now, the interest of Russian oligarchs means that their story is turning full circle, as the eggs begin to return to Russia.  Finally, there is the emergence of new information, as researchers delve into the Kremlin archives, in particular to piece together the designs and possible fates of the seven missing eggs. 

There will be two lectures with a break for morning tea.

250 years after Antonio Stradivari’s death, his violins and cellos remain the world’s most highly-prized instruments.Loved by great musicians and capable of fetching fabulous sums when sold, their tone and beauty are legendary.Every subsequent violin-maker has tried to match them.Not one has succeeded. How can that be?

This lecture explores that central mystery by following some of Stradivari’s instruments from his workshop to the present day. It is a story that travels from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings.(The lecture includes musical extracts.)