OVERVIEW

The course tackles a musical phenomenon with drama-performance implications at a Master’s level: from opera to the different forms of musical theatre to drama-musical genres bereft of a stage (such as oratorios or passions). The focus therefore is on the meeting point between music and theatre, examining how the different languages (verbal, musical, performative) interact reciprocally giving place to an aesthetic object of value.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to develop awareness of the central questions of musical theatre in its historical development in the modern and contemporary period, giving students the necessary theoretical instruments for a critical evaluation of the interaction between music and theatre in the broader sense of the term.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to develop awareness of the central questions of musical theatre in its historical development in the modern and contemporary period, giving students the necessary theoretical instruments for a critical evaluation of the interaction between music and theatre in the broader sense of the term.

At the end of the course students will be able to competently interpret the musical theatre phenomena studied, recognising the contribution of different components that compose the aesthetic object of extreme complexity and the meaning that each component brings to the overall dialectic. 

PREREQUISITES

Basic knowledge of history of music and theatre in Europe, 17th to 20th centuries.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures with systematic use of audiovisual support: CD, DVD, web.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Mozart, Hasse, Metastasio and dramma per musica in the 18th century .

The top genre of Italian opera in the 18th century is going to be researched through three of its main authors: the main librettist of that century, Pietro Metastasio, and two of the most frequent and interesting musicians who set his works. Johann Adolf Hasse set to music all but one of Metastasio's dramas during 40 years, from the time of the dramaturg's first successes to his final work, which ended the carrier of both artists. Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, albeit more easily connected to the buffo operas on librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte, worked very frequently with Metastasio's text since his very first compositions still in his childhood and set two dramas and an oratorio by Metastasio. The course will put this capital phenomen in the broader context of civil and cultural life ot the 18th century, comparing the approach to Metastasio's text by two composers two generations apart. Special attention will be devoted to three operas: Hasse's Artaserse, Mozart's Il re pastore and La clemenza di Tito in both settings. Mozart's relationship with the Metastasio's texts in the composer's overall output will be also examined in detail.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For bibliography in Italian see the Italian version of this file. 

For bibliography in English and in German see the "Sezione comune a tutte le lingue". 

The teacher is available to discuss the preparation for students willing to study in a language other than Italian.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

RAFFAELE MELLACE (President)

LIVIA CAVAGLIERI

STEFANO FERNANDO VERDINO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

September 2018

Class schedule

MUSICAL DRAMATURGY

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam consists of an assessment of the contents of the course and the bibliography. Knowledge of the authors, genre and historical-cultural context of the works treated in the course programme. The evaluation will consider knowledge of the programme (topics tackled in lectures, readings indicated in the bibliography, material made available on Aulaweb, mandatory or optional operas), as well as presentation ability, use of specific lexicon and capacity for critical reworking.

Exam schedule