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.

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

Italian Opera in Vienna under Maria Theresia and Joseph II

The city of Vienna, where the Classical Style developed starting from the 1760s, has been an extraordinary theatrical laboratory, where different national traditions and aesthetic concepts shared reciprocal influences. Probably the most dynamic and vital centre of European opera, the Imperial capital was a teeming crossroad where genres, authors, and works of the most disparate origins gave birth to a lively rivalry which originated high-level works, some of them still in repertoire, many others neglected. The course will consider the period stretching between the last years of Maria Theresia’s reign and that of her son and successor Joseph II, concentrating on musical genres in Italian language from the quarter of century 1760-1786, from Alcide al bivio, celebrating the future Joseph II’s wedding in October 1760 and the debut of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro on 1st May 1786. The course will consider the rich production of very different works, including the aristocratic dramma per musica, the baroque genres of azione and festa teatrale, the brilliant dramma giocoso established as a new genre by Carlo Goldoni. In doing so, it will consider the output of crucial playwrights and composers belonging to four generations: playwrights Metastasio, Calzabigi, Goldoni and Da Ponte, and composers Gluck, Hasse, Giuseppe Scarlatti, Florian Leopold Gassmann, Mozart and Salieri.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Required Readings (9 CFU).

1. R. Mellace, Vienna negli anni Sessanta del Settecento: un autentico laboratorio teatrale, in F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025, pp. 53-59.

2. R. Mellace, L’autunno del Metastasio. Gli ultimi drammi per musica di Johann Adolf Hasse, Firenze, Olschki («Historiae Musicae Cultores» 110), 2007, pp. 20-30, 36-57, 65-80, 111-118, 121-127, 137-147, 159-174, 211-227.
3. C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Programma di sala, Teatro La Fenice, 2015.
4. G. Carli Ballola, “Alceste”, o la religione del classicismo, in C.W. Gluck Alceste, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 1987, pp. 45-52.
5. W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025.
6. A.L. Bellina, “Mitridate”, “Ruggiero” e “Lucio Silla”. Tre allestimenti intorno a Parini, in L’amabil rito. Società e cultura nella Milano di Parini, II, La musica e le arti, a c. di G. Barbarisi, C. Capra, F. Degrada e F. Mazzocca, Bologna, Cisalpino, 2000, pp. 751-766.
7. C.W. Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice, numero monografico «VeneziaMusica e dintorni», 111, aprile 2023.
8. R. Mellace, Johann Adolf Hasse, Palermo, L’Epos, 2004, pp. 301-305.
9. R. Mellace, Introduzione a C. Goldoni, Drammi comici per musica. IV. 1756-1758, a c. di A. Vencato, Venezia, Marsilio, 2020, pp. 24-101.
10. F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025.
11. W.A. Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2023.
12. J. Rice, Il contributo di Salieri all’opera viennese, in Salieri sulle tracce di Mozart, Catalogo della mostra, Milano, Palazzo Reale, 3 dicembre 2004 – 30 gennaio 2005, a c. di H. Lachmayer, T. Haigermoser e R. Eisendle, Kassel, Bärenreiter, 2004, pp. 101-105.
13. F. Blanchetti, Avventure di Trofonio fra Salieri e Paisiello, in Antonio Salieri (1750-1825), e il teatro musicale a Vienna. Convenzioni, innovazioni, contaminazioni stilistiche, Lucca, LIM, 2012, pp. 273-302.
14. Libretto (included in the above-mentioned programma books), audio or video recording of the following operas: J.A. Hasse, Il trionfo di Clelia, Il Ruggiero, Alcide al bivio, Piramo e Tisbe; C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice; W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Le nozze di Figaro; G. Scarlatti, Dov’è amore è gelosia; F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria; A. Salieri, La grotta di Trofonio

N.B.: all readings (with the exception of n. 2 and including all opera librettoss) will be uploaded, after lessons have started, in the course's Aulaweb. N. 2 is available in the Biblioteca Umanistica and in bookshops.

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended. 

Alternative readings for English-speaking students:

D. Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720-1780, New York, W.W. Norton, 2003.

I. Schraffl, Italian Opera in Vienna in the 1770s: Repertoire and Reception – Data and Facts, in «Musicologica Austriaca: Journal for Austrian Music Studies», 26, 2020.

Opera buffa in Mozart’s Vienna, ed. by J. Webster e M. Hunter, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

R. Mellace, 1770/71: Jommelli, Hasse and Mozart Confronting the Opera Seria Tradition, in Die Wiener Klassiker und das Italien ihrer Zeit. Festchrift für Christian Speck zum 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. von Petra Weber («Studien zur Musik», 19), Paderborn, Wilhelm Fink, 2015, pp. 161-187.

J.A. Rice, Antonio Salieri and the Viennese Opera, The University of Chicago, Chicago 1998.

Libretto, audio or video recording of the following operas: J.A. Hasse, Il trionfo di Clelia, Il Ruggiero, Alcide al bivio, Piramo e Tisbe; C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice; W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Le nozze di Figaro; G. Scarlatti, Dov’è amore è gelosia; F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria; A. Salieri, La grotta di Trofonio

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

Required Readings (6 CFU)

1. R. Mellace, Vienna negli anni Sessanta del Settecento: un autentico laboratorio teatrale, in F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025, pp. 53-59.
2. R. Mellace, L’autunno del Metastasio. Gli ultimi drammi per musica di Johann Adolf Hasse, Firenze, Olschki («Historiae Musicae Cultores» 110), 2007, pp. 20-30, 36-57, 111-118, 121-127, 137-147, 211-227.
3. C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Programma di sala, Teatro La Fenice, 2015.
4. G. Carli Ballola, “Alceste”, o la religione del classicismo, in C.W. Gluck Alceste, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 1987, pp. 45-52.
5. W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025.
6. C.W. Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice, numero monografico «VeneziaMusica e dintorni», 111, aprile 2023.
7. R. Mellace, Introduzione a C. Goldoni, Drammi comici per musica. IV. 1756-1758, a c. di A. Vencato, Venezia, Marsilio, 2020, pp. 24-69.
8. F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025
9. W.A. Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2023
10. Libretto (included in the above-mentioned programma books), audio or video recording of the following operas: J.A. Hasse, Il trionfo di Clelia, Alcide al bivio; C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice; W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Le nozze di Figaro; G. Scarlatti, Dov’è amore è gelosia; F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria

N.B.: all readings (with the exception of n. 2 and including all opera librettoss) will be uploaded, after lessons have started, in the course's Aulaweb. N. 2 is available in the Biblioteca Umanistica and in bookshops.

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended. 

Alternative readings for English-speaking students:

D. Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720-1780, New York, W.W. Norton, 2003.

I. Schraffl, Italian Opera in Vienna in the 1770s: Repertoire and Reception – Data and Facts, in «Musicologica Austriaca: Journal for Austrian Music Studies», 26, 2020.

Opera buffa in Mozart’s Vienna, ed. by J. Webster e M. Hunter, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Libretto (included in the above-mentioned programma books), audio or video recording of the following operas: J.A. Hasse, Il trionfo di Clelia, Alcide al bivio; C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice; W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Le nozze di Figaro; G. Scarlatti, Dov’è amore è gelosia; F.L. Gassmann, L’opera seria.

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

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons will take place in the second semester, starting from February 2026.

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.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended.

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.

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.