Opera: Text and Context

3 units

We will focus on operas drawn primarily from the French, Italian, and German traditions that served as watershed moments in the history of literature, music, philosophy, and criticism. We will read source texts (including famed literary works by Molière, Beaumarchais, Scott, Hugo, Béroul, Maeterlink, Mérimée, Hoffmann, and James), view performances in their entirety, discuss the literary works, philosophy, and criticism that the works inspired, and consider the American reception of the works, including their influence on pop culture. Students will gain a sense of opera's vital role at the intersection of the arts (text, music, and dance) and the disciplines (History, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Gender Studies), learning to approach the study of the genre from multiple perspectives. Preference will be given to IPH majors and Text and Tradition students though others are welcome.