Detailed Information

Introducing Opera

What is opera? A play with music, a concert with costumes, or both – or something even more? This course will offer an introduction to the history of opera, and its traditions, as well as bringing you up-to-date with new production styles and contexts, including simulcast transmission. We will explore much-loved operas by Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, as well as going back to theatre of the baroque, and forwards into our own time. Classes will be illustrated with both audio and video recordings. For students who have previously attended this course, a new selection of works will be offered. This course is intended to introduce the study and appreciation of opera in a way that draws on the different disciplines – music, theatre, and literature – from which it comes. We will examine individual operas both as art-works in themselves and also in terms of contemporary social or artistic issues of their times, where appropriate. Different staging techniques and production styles will be discussed, along with the history of singing. Where possible, we will listen to some of the great voices of the past, and become more familiar with the different voice-types and techniques. Students will be encouraged to appreciate opera ‘in the round’, as a story-telling artform combining the crafts of music and theatre, as well as a mirror of the times for which it was created.

Dates Venue/Location Fee €

Booking is currently not available for this event.



Please note that you must be logged into InfoHub to make a Booking. If you do not have an Infohub account you can create one through this link.

8 Tuesdays

19:00-21:00

03, 10, 17, 24, 31 Oct, 07, 14, 21 Nov

  • The rediscovery of early opera 
  • Mozart and the classical stage 
  • The ‘bel canto’ style, and theatre of the Romantic Age 
  • Verdi: Grand Opera, nationalism and the power of expression 
  • Wagner and opera as the ‘universal art work’ 
  • Puccini and the ideal of realism

The following is a selection of recommended texts for those interested in reading further around the course content. We advise that you do not buy books in advance of the course as your tutor will discuss the list and suggest the most relevant reading for particular interests.

 

Carolyn Abbate & Roger Parker, A History of Opera: the last 400 years (Penguin, 2015) 

Robert Cannon, Opera (Cambridge Introductions to Music) (Cambridge, 2012) 

The Penguin Concise Guide to Opera, ed. Amanda Holden (London: Penguin, 2005) 

Alexandra Wilson, Opera: a beginner’s guide (Oxford: Oneworld, 2010)

At the end of this course, students will have an informed understanding and appreciation of opera, curiosity to learn more, and the confidence to attend performances for themselves.

Illustrated presentation of one opera per class, using sound and video recordings, and still pictures, leading to a discussion of the issues raised.

Dr Michael Lee is an assistant lecturer at TU Dublin Conservatoire, where he teaches music and drama. He has also lectured at Maynooth University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and Queen's University Belfast. As a freelance broadcaster and speaker, he has presented concerts and feature programmes on RTÉ lyric fm. He also writes for the music website, Goldenplec.com