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 at developing – at the level of knowledge – the awareness of the central questions of musical theatre in its historical development in modern and contemporary age, giving students – at the level of abilities - the necessary theoretical instruments for a critical evaluation of the interaction between music and theatre in the broader sense of the term.

6 CFU

At the end of the course students will be able to competently understand the musical theatre phenomena studied in class, remember and aknowledge the contribution of different components that compose the aesthetic object of extreme complexity; he/she will have the tools in order to analyze such complexity and will be able to apply this knowledge in the critical evaluation, also in creative terms, of the meaning that each component brings to the overall dialectic. 

9 CFU

The above mentioned learning outcomes will be achieved on a deeper level of awareness, both in the extent of the context the phenomena discussed are inscribed and in the more detailed analysis of the musico-dramatical questions implied.

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.

Attending class is strongly recommended.

Registering to the course Aulaweb (activated immediately before lectures start) is strongly recommended in order to obtain information and materials.

Students with disabilities or DSAs are reminded that in order to request adaptations in the exam, they must first enter their certification on the University website at servizionline.unige.it in the "Students" section. The documentation will be verified by the University's Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and DSA Sector (https://rubrica.unige.it/strutture/struttura/100111). Subsequently, at least 10 days before the date of the exam, an e-mail must be sent to the teacher with whom you will take the exam, including in the knowledge copy both the School's Teacher Referent for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and with DSA (Prof. Elisabetta Colagrossi: elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it) and the Sector indicated above. The e-mail should specify: the name of the teaching; the date of the call; the student's last name, first name and roll number; the compensatory tools and dispensatory measures deemed functional; and required.  The contact person will confirm to the lecturer that the applicant is entitled to apply for adaptations in the examination and that these adaptations must be agreed upon with the lecturer. The lecturer will respond by informing whether the requested adaptations can be used. Requests should be sent at least 10 days before the date of the call in order to allow the lecturer(s) to evaluate the content. In particular, in case you intend to make use of maps conceptual maps for the exam (which must be much more concise than the maps used for studying) if the submission does not meet the deadline there will not be the technical time needed to make any changes.

Erasmus Students should speak with the instructor as lectures start, in order to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams. Erasmus students not proficient in Italian may request a substitutive bibliography, and take the examination in English, French or German.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Puccini 100 Years later. Sentimental Paths and Music Strategies from La bohème to La rondine

Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels on 29th November 1924. One hundred years later his operas are still one of the most relevant global phaenomena, daily experienced all over the world. The course wishes to explore the scope of Puccini’s career, centred on a limited number of works, ten on the whole (counting Il trittico as one), because of the composer’s early death but also because of his attitude to consider with great attention any new idea. Working on a new opera always meant for Puccini conceiving a clear dramatic project, aiming at constructing tableaux conceived as corresponding to spiritual conditions, transfigured “soul landscapes” hosting the lives of evolving characters showing sharp moral contradictions. The course will be based on two works: the second, great success from the 1890s, La bohème (1896), one of the most celebrated and admired works in the whole history of opera, whose bustling symphonic opening shows all of Puccini’s novelty and quality in contemporary operatic environment; and La rondine (1917), the most debated and instable title in Puccini’s catalogue, an eccentric opera, its author greatly thought of and kept revising with great care, as recent studies have been demonstrating. Devoting much attention to these two works, connected under several respects but also belonging to different seasons and sharply contrasting in their ideological conception, the course will notwithstanding broaden its scope considering, if less intensively, some more strongholds in Puccini’s catalogue, such as Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, La fanciulla del West and Turandot, aiming at sketching an accomplished outline of one the most relevant experiences, and today still popular on a global scale, in building the collective image of sentimental self-conscience of the 20th-century.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Required Readings (6 CFU).

1. V. Bernardoni, Puccini, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2023, pp. 139-184, 320-346.
2. Libretto (contained in n. 3 and 4), audio or video recording of La bohème and of La Rondine; score for those who can read music.
3. G. Puccini, La bohème, Milano, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2023.
4. G. Puccini, La rondine, Milano, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2024.
5. F. Scipioni, Puccini: “La bohème”, Roma, Carocci, 2023.

N.B.: n. 2 and 3 will be uploaded, after lessons have started, in the course's Aulaweb. N. 1 and 5 are available in the School's Library and on sale in bookshops.

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended. 

Required Readings are meant both for attending and for not attending students

Required Readings (9 CFU)

1. V. Bernardoni, Puccini, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2023, pp. 105-184, 212-346, 398-446.
2. Libretto (containend in n. 3, 4 and 5 ), audio or video recording of La bohème, La rondine and Turandot; score for those who can read music.
3. G. Puccini, La bohème, Milano, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2023.
4. G. Puccini, La rondine, Milano, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2024.
5. G. Puccini, Turandot, Milano, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2024.
6. F. Scipioni, Puccini: “La bohème”, Roma, Carocci, 2023.
7. A. Groos, Madama Butterfly fra Oriente e Occidente, in G. Puccini, Madama Butterfly, Venezia, Edizioni del Teatro La Fenice, 2001, pp. 61-80.
8. F. Vazzoler, Mani, manine, manicotti nel teatro pucciniano. Una divagazione, in «Charta», XXXII, n. 185, febbraio/marzo 2024, pp. 38-43.

N.B.: n. 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 will be uploaded, after lessons have started, in the course's Aulaweb. N. 1 and 5 are available in the School's Library and on sale in bookshops. .

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended. 

Required Readings are meant both for attending and for not attending students

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

RAFFAELE MELLACE (President)

DAVIDE MINGOZZI

GIADA ROBERTA VIVIANI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

On the 17th February 2025

Lessons will take place on Mondays and Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and on Wednesdays at 1 p.m.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral

Erasmus Students should speak with the instructor as lectures start, in order to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams. Erasmus students not proficient in Italian may request a substitutive bibliography, and take the examination in English, French or German.

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

FURTHER INFORMATION

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended