The course focuses on a particular author, opera genre or historical period, and provides students with the tools for a methodological approach to musical dramaturgy issues aimed at increasing a deeper critical view. Based on specific cases, research and analysis strategies are developed, stimulating students' autonomy through a seminar work with their active participation. At the end of the course, students will be able to efficiently and knowingly use online resources and specific bibliographic tools related to survey subjects, to analyze complex dramatic-musical structures, and will be able to critically evaluate the transformation of operatic texts in stage performances.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of music and opera history; ability to read music; basics of Italian metrics; ability to read musicological texts in English and/or German.
Teaching Methods
Lectures using multimedia tools and presentations in PowerPoint; Analysis of operatic texts (libretto and score); Analysis of stage performances on DVDs; Active participation of students through group exercises and individual presentations.
Assessment Methods
Oral interview based on the lectures and a specific list of readings provided during the course to supplement the general texts; presentation of a written work as a result of the exercises and presentations in the classroom. For non-attending students, specific test arrangements will be agreed; a paper must be submitted.
Texts
General reference textes: L. Bianconi, Introduzione, in La drammaturgia musicale, a c. di L. Bianconi, Bologna, Il Mulino 1986, pp. 7-51 C. Dahlhaus, Drammaturgia dell'opera italiana, Torino, EDT 2005 (prima pubblicazione in Storia dell'opera italiana, vol. 6: Teorie e tecniche, immagini e fantasmi, a c. di L. Bianconi e G. Pestelli, Torino, EDT 1988, pp. 77-162) [testo acquistabile o reperibile in biblioteca] E. Sala, La drammaturgia musicale come metodo, in Teatro e musica, a c. di A. Ramerino, Roma, Bulzoni 2015, pp. 15-20 G. Staffieri, L'opera italiana. Dalle origini alle riforme del secolo del Lumi (1590-1790), Roma, Carocci, 2014 G. Staffieri, Un teatro tutto cantato, Roma, Carocci 2012
Specific textes: Operatic Pasticcios in 18th-Century Europe. Contexts, Materials and Aesthetics, ed. by Berthold Over and Gesa zur Nieden, Bielefeld, Trasncript 2021 (open access); R. Strohm, The Operas of Antonio Vivaldi, Firenze, Olshki 2008; Händels Operas: das Handbuch, hrsg. von A. Jakobshagen und Panja Mücke, vol. II, sezione «Pasticci, Bearbeitungen und Opernfragmete», pp. 351-436, Laaber, Laaber Verlag 2009 (= Das Händel Handbuch, Bd.2)
Scores: Manuscript score of Bajazet from the Foà-Giordano collection available on Internet Culturale; facsimile score of Handel's Catone published by Garland.
Further references will be provided during the course.
Contents
The pasticcio. The course addresses one of the typical phenomena of 18th-century opera production, which musicology had previously judged extremely negatively but which has enjoyed renewed interest and a decisive re-evaluation in recent years. The case studies will be Antonio Vivaldi's Tamerlano/Bajazet, which has also been staged in various productions in recent years, and Handel's pasticci, in particular Didone abbandonata and Catone. The different types of pasticcio will be examined, analysing the role of composers, librettists, singers and impresarios in the establishment and development of the phenomenon.
Course Language
Italian
More information
Participation in the lessons is strongly recommended.
Non-attending students should contact the teacher to define program and bibliography for the exam.
