An Introduction to Opera

This is an introduction to 18th, 19th and 20th century European operas.

We'll meet once a week, for approximately four hours, given the length of the opera we'll be watching and discussing.

Each week:

1. I'll give a 30-45 minute introduction to the opera.
2. We'll watch the opera, and then
3. We'll have a conversation about it.

The libretto (the vocal script) will be available online before we watch the opera. I expect students to have read the libretto before we watch the opera.

Most likely, we'll watch:

1. Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
2. Beethoven: Fidelio
3. Rossini: The Barber of Seville
4. Wagner: The Gold of the Rhine (Das Rhinegold)
5. Bizet: Carmen
6. Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffman
7. Berg: Wozzeck
8. Britten: Death in Venice
   
9. Zimmerman: The Soldiers
10. Ligeti: The Grand Macabre

Students taking the class for 4 credits will be expected to attend all 10 weeks of the summer class.

1. First class: Monday, June 23. Last class: Monday, August 25.

Students taking the class for 2 credits will be expected to attend either the first or last 5-week session:

1. First session: Monday, June 23 - Monday, July 22
2. Second session: Monday, July 29 - Monday, August 25

The Learning Goals are to introduce students to European Opera, and present the different social and historical contexts in which these operas were first created and performed.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:

Two credit option:

2 - History of the Performing Arts (Opera)

Four credit option:

4 - History of the Performing Arts (Opera)