Have you ever wondered about the attraction of a lot of fat (OK, maybe just chubby) people wearing helmets with horns singing on stage about some melodramatic story in an incomprehensible language and thought that opera was not for you?  Well, opera singers are no longer all overweight and don’t wear horned hats, not all stories are melodramatic, and with the use of subtitles and surtitles, the language is no longer incomprehensible!  This course is for those who don’t know much about opera but are curious about it, those who have a smattering of familiarity but would like to know more, and those who would enjoy hearing a lot of snippets of wonderful music sung by terrific singers.  After brief introductions and a bit of history, most of the class will be listening to the musical examples.

The course will begin with the parts of an opera (arias, duets, choruses, an occasional ballet—including an orgy) and continue with the different voice types, from the coloratura soprano at the top to the basso profundo at the bottom.  We’ll then look very briefly at famous operas from the late 18th to the 21st centuries, including works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner, with excerpts ranging from single arias to slightly longer scenes.  Since opera is theater, we’ll see a variety of scenic and directorial approaches, from traditional to quite modern.  We will end with a look at a new opera by the American composer Philip Glass, Akhnaten, which had a spectacular production at the Metropolitan Opera. There will be a list of optional listening, covering additional performances by the great singers of our time.  Just about everything we will look at will have subtitles, and translations will be provided for the few lacking them.  While we will not be listening to entire operas, the synopses for each opera mentioned will be provided as optional background.  Other than reading the synopsis for those interested, there is no preparation needed for the classes.

Please note that this six-week course will begin on February 27 and end on April 2, which is during the make-up week.