For the first part:
1) G. STAFFIERI, Un teatro tutto cantato. Introduzione all’opera italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2012, capp. 1, 4 (pp. 17-58; 123-175);
2) G. Staffieri, L'opera italiana. Dalle origini alle riforme del secolo dei Lumi, Roma, Carocci, 2014;
3) E. SENICI, L’opera italiana del primo Ottocento, in Musiche nella storia, a cura di A. Chegai, F. Piperno, A. Rostagno ed E. Senici, Roma, Carocci, 2017, pp. 453-493;
4) F. Della Seta, "La Traviata", dal dramma alla musica, in La Fenice prima dell'opera (testo disponibile sulla piattaforma Moodle)
On Mozart's Don Giovanni:
Students will have to study and bring to class the libretto of the opera in the following edition: Lorenzo Da Ponte. Il Don Giovanni, edited by G. Gronda, Turin, Einaudi, 1995.
The score of the opera (some extracts) will be made available on the Moodle platform.
In addition, knowledge of the following essays is required:
1) M. H. Schmid, Le opere teatrali di Mozart, Milan, Bollati Boringhieri, 2009, pp. 15-52, pp. 71-73 and pp. 82-91;
2) G. Bietti, Mozart at work, Bari, Laterza, 2015, pp. 184-218;
3) David Rosen, Don Giovanni: dramma giocoso, opera buffa, dramma semiserio?, in Don Giovanni. La fenice prima dell'opera (text available on the Moodle platform).
A thorough knowledge of the libretto and the vision of some of the opera scenes proposed during the course is required.
The students are also required to know the listenings proposed during the course (available on Moodle).
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 Mozart's Don Giovanni.
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 Italian opera and, through the specific case of Don Giovanni, 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.
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 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 subscribe to the e 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 " Don Giovanni": dramaturgy and staging.