1) GLORIA STAFFIERIERI, Un teatro tutto cantato. Introduzione all’opera italiana, Rome, Carocci, 2012, capp. 1,4 (pp. 17-58;123-175)2) Lorenzo Bianconi, Il teatro d' opera in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1993.3) Fabrizio Della Seta, Italia e Francia nell’Ottocento (“Storia della Musica”, vol. 9), EdT, 1993, pp. 208-236.4) Emanuele Senici, L' opera italiana del primo Ottocento, in Musiche nel storia, edited by A. Chegai, F. Piperno, A. Rostagno and E. Senici, Roma, Carocci, 2017, pp. 453-493.5) Antonio Rostagno, Verdi e Wagner: musica e mentalità del secondo Ottocento, in Musiche nella storia, Roma, Carocci, 2017, pp. 569-597 and 605-615.6) Fabrizio Della Seta,"La traviata", from drama to music, in La Fenice prima dell' opera 2004-2005, vol. 1, La traviata, pp. 9-30 [the text will be available online on the Moodle platform of the course].7) Emanuele Senici, Violetta come noi, in La traviata, edited by Livio Aragona and Federico Fornoni, Bergamo, Fondazione Donizetti, 2009, pp. 17-24 [the text will be available online on the Moodle platform of the course].8) Mila De Santis, Triste comme une chanson à boire: ripensando al Brindisi de La traviata ,"Studi verdiani", 23,2012, pp. 45-70 [the text will be available online on the Moodle platform of the course].The following video version of the opera: La traviata, Salzburg Festival, 2005, directed by: Willy Decker, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Further bibliography will be reported during the lessons.
Learning Objectives
The course aims to offer the historical features, methods and critical tools for studying Italian opera in its essential components (music, libretto, staging) and reference to the production system in which it is inserted.
These elements will be deepened through the analysis of "La traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi, one of the most emblematic titles of the nineteenth-century Italian opera.
Knowledge: in-depth acquisition of the methodological bases of the discipline and the main lines of development of the history of Italian opera, with particular regard to the nineteenth century.Competence: acquisition of the main methodological tools for the analysis of the librettos, of the morphology of the nineteenth century Italian opera and, through the specific case of "Traviata", of the main questions concerning the relationship between opera and staging. Behaviour: development of the ability to read, analyse and interpret the main formal and stylistic structures of the Italian opera, as well as the acquisition of a relevant language and autonomy of judgement in evaluating and commenting on the audio-visual material proposed during the lessons. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of the main topics related to the history of music and history of theater from Seventeenth to Nineteenth century.
Teaching Methods
Lectures with power point presentation. The module includes audio and video examples.
Further information
During the lessons, students will have to have a copy of the libretto of "La traviata" that will be provided by the teacher. The capacity to read music is not requested: some basic concepts of the musical language will be explained in the first part of the course.
To access course material, you must enroll in the E-learning Moodle platform. The password will be communicated during the first lessons.
Type of Assessment
Oral exam:
the exam will consist of an interview in which the student will have to demonstrate knowledge of: 1) the topics dealt with during lessons; 2) ALL the texts in the bibliography; 3) the listening offered during the lessons; 4) the audio-video material.
Course program
1. Introduction to musical dramaturgy; 2. Lineaments of Italian prosody aimed at understanding the librettist language; 3. Short historical profile of dramatic and musical structures; 4. Opera in the early Nineteenth century; 5. Analysis of some crucial points of the opera "La traviata": dramaturgy and staging.