Learning objectives
At the end of the course students will know the essential historical lines
of the Italian musical dramaturgy and its forms (knowledge and
understanding); they will be able to identify the lyric numbers contained
in an Italian libretto written between the Seventeenth to Nineteenth century and distinguish the sections in which they were conventionally
divided (Applying knowledge and understanding). They will be able to
express the content of the discipline with specific language and technical
competence, at least with regard to poetic, narrative, linguistic and
formal structures (communication skills). Even without requiring
analytical skills and techniques in the field of music, however, it is
necessary to acquire at least the main terms to describe the music that
has been listened. The students will also be able to query the sources of
opera, even not presented in class, in order to identify the specific traits
and the most useful for forthcoming studies (learning skills).
Prerequisites
Knowledge of the essentials of the history of Italian literature and the
basis of Italian metrics and poetic
Course unit content
The course will introduce the most debated issues in the studies about
lyric opera and will outline the ways in which music, literary text, acting,
theater production, etc. have been organized over time to create
theatrical musical performances.
The course proposes the study of the strategies available to the theater
music. We will examine the poetic structures of the libretto, musical
forms that set it, the techniques that adapt pre-existing texts to musical
theater, the forms of expression of dramatized human passion.
the second part of the course The course introduces students to the
historical profile of opera from XVII to XIX century; also it provides the
keys and technical skills necessary to understand the poetics of the main
composers and the role of music in the theater in different times and
genres.
The second part of the course will examine a synthetic history of the
italian opera from 1650 to 2000, with particular ragard to Verdi's operas
Full programme
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Bibliography
The course rely on
Gloria Staffieri, Un teatro tutto cantato. Introduzione all’opera italiana,
Roma, Carocci, 2013.
Lorenzo Bianconi, Il teatro d’opera in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1993
Gilles De Van, Teatralità francese e senso scenico italiano nell’opera
dell’Ottocento, in La realizzazione scenica dello spettacolo verdiano. Atti
del congresso internazionale di studi (Parma, 28-30 settembre 1994), a
cura di Pierluigi Petrobelli e Fabrizio Della Seta, Parma, Istituto di Studi
Verdiani, 1996, pp. 167-186
Listen an integral opera with a related bibliography chosen during the the lessons.
Non-attending
students can follow the online course "Musical Dramaturgy"
among the blended courses of the Elly platform
Teaching methods
Frontal teaching and discussion on musical exemples. During the lessons,
the terminology necessary for a summary analytical description of the
listening experiences will be proposed and illustrated. Useful materials for
attending the course will be deposited on the ELLY platform.
Assessment methods and criteria
The test will consist of an oral interview at the end of the course
according to the official calendar appointed by the Department. The
interview will focus on the texts of bibliography, that wiil be indicated
during the course and announced in the website, and at least two opéras
which will be also indicated during the course.
The interview will test the understanding of the content of each text
listed in the bibliography; will test on the libretto of operas the ability of
the student to orient themselves in the dramatic structures of at least
one act of the operas indicated: it will be therefore necessary that
students listen to them several times while they read the libretto. The
lack of knowledge of the operas indicated is cause for failure of the
verification.
The ability to develop further knowledge and to ask the teacher pertinent
questions, even during the test, will enable excellent results. Likewise,
the ability of integrated readings and cross-connections between the
texts listed in the bibliography will enable excellent results.
Other information
Audio and video media and computer on-line will be available.
