Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "MUS 102"
COURSE NAME: "Italian Opera"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2025

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Paolo Prato
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 3:00 PM -4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Opera is perhaps one of Italy's most important cultural innovations, continuing to fascinate the world since its birth over four hundred years ago. The aim of the course is to examine the birth and development of opera in Italy from the late Renaissance to contemporary Italian opera. The inherent problems in the union of music, text, and drama in this complex music form are explored in the solutions that the most important operatic composers have provided. The aim of the course is then not only to understand and appreciate a story set to music, but the different and varied aspects of opera, its creation, and production. The course explores the history of Italian opera from its birth in the late Renaissance, its development in the 17th century, Italian opera abroad with G.F. Handel and W.A. Mozart, the Belcanto operas, G. Verdi, the Verismo movement, 20th century and contemporary opera. Form and structure in opera, relations between text and music, the world of singers and the characters they portray, historic study of the operatic orchestra, notions of opera production: staging, sets, costumes and the Italian opera house.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

Opera is a total spectacle, featuring unnatural voices and characters in costumes acting in settings that evoke past epochs and situations. As a union of music, text, and drama, opera tells a story, often drawn from a well-known play or tragedy, historical events, mythology, or daily life. As an artistic genre, as well as a model of entertainment and social gatherings, its Italian character has been undisputed for centuries – indeed, UNESCO has recently (2023) included “Italian opera singing” on the World Heritage List.

This course aims to examine the birth and development of opera in Italy from the late Renaissance to contemporary times. Its aim is to understand and appreciate not only a story set to music, but also other aspects, from its creation and production to its market and export. The course takes a chronological approach, intertwined with themes that cross epochs, culture levels, and media. Attention will be paid to opera’s relationships with the political history of Italy and the many publics and taste cultures it has involved over time, along with the “system of opera” (publishers, impresarios, theatres) and the “star” phenomenon that propelled singers and directors to fame all over the world. Finally, the course will consider the globalization of opera, examining the non-Italian composers who produced operas in Italian.

Students will study a good number of Italian operas in depth.They will familiarize themselves with both libretto and music so that they can successfully analyze how specific sections of each work relate to the whole piece, they will gain expertise in understanding how composers and librettists fashion an opera from a literary source, and they will also consider other aspects of theatrical production, such as sets, staging, performance venue, and costumes.

Principal works studied:

1.L'Orfeo(Orpheus), libretto by Alessandro Striggio, music by Claudio Monteverdi (first performed Mantova, Italy, 1607)

2.Le nozze di Figaro(The Marriage of Figaro), libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (first performed Vienna, Austria, 1786)

3.Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber from Seville), libretto by Cesare Sterbini, music by Gioachino Rossini (first performed Rome, Italy, 1816)

4. La traviata(The Fallen Woman), libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, music by Giuseppe Verdi (first performed Venice, Italy, 1853)

5.La bohème, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, music by Giacomo Puccini (first performed Torino, Italy, 1896)

6. Cavalleria Rusticana, libretto by Guidi Menasci and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, music by Pietro Mascagni (first performed Rome, Italy, 1890)

7.Al gran sole carico d’amore (To the great sun full of love), texts by various authors, music by Luigi Nono (first performed Milan, Italy, 1975)

To achieve a comparative sense of Italian, German, and French opera, students will also evaluate excerpts from the following works:

Die Walküre(The Valkyrie),libretto and music by Richard Wagner (Munich, Germany, 1870)

Carmen, music by Georges Bizet (Paris, 1879)

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will leave the course with extensive knowledge of the forms and conventions of Italian opera; its relation to the broader cultural and artistic history of the Italian peninsula and Europe; opera's literary sources; the importance of the librettist; voice types; and the fundamentals of all aspects of operatic stage production. Students will also develop the ability to critically assess the dynamic relationship between poetry and music and the use of music to serve drama in Italian opera

TEXTBOOK:

NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Mid-term Exam	First part: listening and recognizing a given number of musical pieces. Second part: questions covering all topics, to be responded to in the form of short essays.	25%
Readings	Written summary and critical evaluation of an assigned reading	15%
Attendance and Participation	No more than five unjustified absences are allowed. Participation covers both in-class discussion and Moodle forum contributions.	10%
Final Project	Research paper on a topic to be agreed upon with the professor. Guidelines will be posted on Moodle.	25%
Final Exam	First part: analysis of a given musical piece. Second part: questions covering all topics, to be responded to in short essays. Third part: multiple choice quiz	25%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

The following syllabus is provisional and will be updated in the next few weeks.

WEEK 1: 1 – 3 September

Music, Culture and Society: some introductory concepts

Opera and Italy: an ancient love affair bound to last

Readings:

Sorce Keller, Marcello. ‘Italy in Music. A Sweeping (and Somewhat Audacious) Reconstruction of a Problematic Identity’, in Fabbri, F. and Plastino, G. (eds.), Made in Italy: Studies in Popular Music. Routledge, London-NY 2014.

Zelechow, Bernard. ‘The Opera: The Meeting of Popular and Elite Culture in the Nineteenth Century’. In History of European Ideas vol.16 no.13, 1993

WEEK 2: 8 – 10 September

The birth of opera, between Renaissance and Baroque.

From aristocratic courts to public theatres

WEEK 3: 15 – 17 September

Serious and comical opera: the French vs Italian opera quarrel.

The rise of Classicism: Mozart and librettist Da Ponte establish the hegemony of Italian.

WEEK 4: 22 - 24 September

The Romantic Era and the heyday of belcanto: Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti.

National musical schools in Europe and the case of Italy.

WEEK 5: 29 September – 1 October

Risorgimento: opera’s contribution to the Unification of Italy.

Giuseppe Verdi, a father of the nation.

WEEK 6: 6 - 8 October

The system of opera: theatres, impresarios, singers, publishers.

The rise of stardom: sopranos as divas.

Reading:

Meizel, Katherine. Multivocality. Singing on the Border of Identity. Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

WEEK 7: 13 - 15 October

Opera in the New World: a symbol of belonging and a reason of pride for immigrants.

Enrico Caruso, the Metropolitan Theatre and Giulio Gatti Casazza.

Reading:

Williams, Gavin. ‘The Reproduction of Caruso’, in Cambridge Opera Journal 33, 2021.

7.2. Course review

7.2. Mid-term exam

WEEK 8: 20 – 22 October

Wagnerism vs Verismo: updating the dispute between foreign influences and local flavors.

Mascagni, Leoncavallo and the Italian Americans.

WEEK 9: 27 - 29 October

Puccini: the last operatic hero.

Toscanini, escaping from Fascism and rising to fame in the US.

WEEK 10: 3 - 5 November

Operetta, romanza and other vocal offshoots of opera.

The decline of opera in the 20^th century.

Readings:

Adorno, Theodor W. ‘Opera and the Long-Playing Record’. In Richard Leppert (ed. by). Adorno. Essays on Music, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

WEEK 11: 10 - 12 November

Opera and the avantgarde

Berio, Nono and the young generation.

Readings:

Leppert, Richard. Aesthetic Technologies of Modernity, Subjectivity, and Nature. Opera, Orchestra, Phonograph, Film. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015.

WEEK 12: 17 - 19 November

Opera in popular culture: Films, cartoons, advertising, hit songs.

Readings:

Everett, William A. ‘Demystifying Opera in the Early Hollywood Films: A Tale of Three Singers’. International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 50, 2019.

Jeongwon, Joe and Theresa, Rose (eds). Between Opera and Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Screening: The Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera.

WEEK 13: 24 - 26 November

Operatic pop: opera’s influence on contemporary music.

Opera in the digital age.

Readings:

Excerpts from Paul Fryer (ed.). Opera in the Media Age. Essays on Art, Technology and Popular Culture. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2014

WEEK 14: 1 - 3 December

Opera on TV: The Belcanto series.

Final course review

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following books provide the historical background and will be useful each week according to the schedule.. Further readings will be assigned weekly.

Fisher, Burton D. History of Opera: Milestones and Metamorphoses, Opera Journeys Publishing, 2003.

Grout, Donald, and Hermine Weigel Williams. A Short History of Opera, Columbia University Press, 1988.

Rosselli, John. Singers of Italian Opera: The History of a Profession. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1992.