Opera History and Literature

Catalog description

Abundant and multifarious over centuries, opera remains one of the most expansive genres and unruly concepts in the performing arts. Knowledge of its history—or rather "histories"—and the contours of its repertoires is essential to any artist who engages with it, as are the skills to approach any representative work as a musical and dramatic text. The course aims to familiarize students with these aspects through historical content and the applied skills of analysis and research. Throughout, we also challenge our ideas of "canon" by problematizing hegemonic aesthetics and combating the routines of "chronology." Finally, following Robert Schumann's dictum "Never neglect hearing good operas," our explorations seek to enrich our own sense of pleasure with opera as genre and concept. The course combines elements of lecture and discussion format. Since we as audience members frequently experience operatic works out of chronology in performance, this course embraces an exploration of repertoire without a single chronology. The first half of the course introduces important analytical paradigms, contextual information, and case studies of operatic texts. In the second half of the semester, the class breaks out into small teams to lead discussions on repertoire examples from representative categories. Finally, there is no shortcut around studying and absorbing the works assigned for this class. Comprehension assignments throughout the semester will assess your ability to absorb and analyze material. The in-class midterm exam and that take-home final exam will test your knowledge and ability to undertake more complex evaluations. Since the course is cross-listed with graduate and undergraduate Music numbers, undergraduate students will have modified assignment expectations.