ITAL-4384 Theater and Opera

Course Description

Since its beginnings in Florence, the Italian Opera reached a European popularity. Italian singers, similarly to actors in the Theater, performed in many countries. We will examine Theater and Opera from both theoretical and interdisciplinary perspectives. For the Opera we will select arias of different composers and periods, trace the development of this genre, and describe its performing characteristics. The course will also outline a cultural geography of the diffusion and success of this genre. For the Theater component of the course we will focus on the Commedia dell’Arte and its relations with the comic Opera (the so called opera buffa), and we will also overview the architectonic development of Theaters from the 17th to the 20th century.