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Setting it Straight - Issue #18

Written by Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty

This continues the process from last week (the I essay) of introducing terms that will be encountered as we engage with the complexities of immunity. I’ve bolded a few words and phrases that, while some may be commonplace, will be used in an unfamiliar context. Repertoire is in that category.

Repertoire is mainly ‘owned’ by the entertainment and performance cultures. The repertoires of: an opera singer or solo instrumentalist; amazing strokes from a top tennis player; tricky moves by a spin bowler; and the playlist that defines the repertoires of both actors and a theatrical company like Bell Shakespeare or the fictional  ‘Good Companions’ in JB Priestley’s novel. What we’re discussing here is a diversity of ‘selected repertoires’, with that selection being made first by the performers on the basis of their specific abilities and interests, then by those who care to engage by listening, buying tickets and attending an event as part of their ‘target’ audience. The ‘audience’ for, say, the latest Opera Australia production of ‘Don Giovanni’ at Sydney Opera House will, though there may be some crossover, be largely different from that enjoying live music at a King’s Cross night club.