OPERA 101
HOW TO ENJOY ITALIAN OPERA
Course at the RCYC City Clubhouse
4 Tuesdays afternoons or evenings
2:30 - 4:30 p.m. or 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
11 September to 2 October, 2007
$200.00
Register here
In this course you will learn:
- Why opera was invented in Italy (in Florence in 1600).
- Why Italian opera has endured for the last 400 years.
- Why Italian opera focuses on the voice and the vocal line.
- How the form of the Italian aria changed over time
Course outline:
Week 1: The basic framework of opera
- Fundamentals you must know...
- The operatic "pie chart"
- The "time-line" of opera
- Voices and fachs
Week 2: What does the term "Bel Canto" mean?
- What did opera want to be when it began?
- What's a "castrato" and how did he/it sound?
- Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti
- The last great flowering of Bel Canto writing and singing.
Week 3: Why is Verdi - "the heart of Italian opera"?
- What did he mean by his "years in the galleys"?
- Why are his mid career masterpieces so special?
- What do people mean by the "miracles of his old age"?
Week 4: Puccini and Verismo - sex and violence!
- Why was there was such a strong reaction after Verdi?
- Cav and Pag and other gratuitously violent "Verismo" shockers.
- Trying to put Puccini in perspective.
|
