index aboutPlato howToJoin courses colloquiums majorEvents otherActivities tuition memberBenefits calendar governance publications contributing contactUs newMembers lifeLong uclaExtension index aboutPlato howtoJoin courses majorEvents colloquiums otherActivities tuition calendar governance publications contributing contactus lifelongLearning uclaExt index aboutPlato tojoin courses majorevents otheractivites tuition calendar governance publications contributing contactus lifelonglearning uclaExt

#20 The Social & Political History of Opera

 

Thursday – 1:00 p.m.                                                                    Fall Term 2008 (14 weeks)
Coordinator:  Joann Toll                                                             Co-Coordinator: Marilyn Slater 

 

Course Description
Music and Drama have been an important part of society since its beginnings and their effect on an audience can be significant. These works, called “operas”, have not only mirrored but also influenced the cultures that enjoyed them from the Italian aristocratic courts where they were first seen 400 years ago to the audiences of today.

Opera’s heroes have included kings, outcasts and revolutionaries. Class and class conflict, movements such as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the French and American Revolutions played major roles in defining this art form. Has opera encouraged societal issues such as freedom or despotism, class equality, the role of women, Freud’s introduction to the subconscious, race and ethnicity? Does opera reflect the societies of today or is it an art form of the past? Does it influence or now merely entertain? Explore with us the world of opera – what has influenced it and how it has shaped our world.

 

Topics
1.         Applause or criticism of absolute monarchies (Monteverdi, the Father of Opera         (1600s)
2.         Italian opera travels abroad, the phenomenon of the castrato and the development    of the countertenor form (Handel, 1700s)
3.         The rise of the middle class and the Enlightenment.  (Mozart, late 1700s).       Beaumarchais, architect of the French Revolution and author of “Barber of Seville”           and “Marriage of Figaro”.  Class struggles in the aftermath of the revolutions.
4.         More Mozart.  Utopian societies and challenges to the aristocracies from the stages.
5.         Europe in the aftermath of the French Revolution.  Politics and morality.  Beethoven,
early 1800s).
6.         Opera’s most political composer?  “Nabucco” was only the beginning for Italy’s son,
(Giuseppe Verdi mid-1800’s to late). 
7.         German nationalism and ethnic identity, longing for a mythical bygone age.  (Wagner
changed opera’s direction and other European composers studied his works            seriously)
8.         Class barriers, colonialism and prejudice.  The lives of ordinary people are    scrutinized rather than important historical figures, heroes, or the rich and famous.       (Bizet, “verismo” enters the art form).
9.         Verismo captures the audiences.  “Bel Canto” is replaced by high drama and strong
emotions rather than the beautiful singing of the first half of the 1800s.  (Leoncavallo,
Mascagni, late 1800s).
10.       High drama continues with Mad Scenes, emotions run amok, acting ability becomes            ever more important.  (Various composers)
11.       Russia expands the art form to the boundaries of Europe and beyond, yet looks        inward upon itself and its society in a somewhat pessimistic manner.  (Tchaikovsky         and others)
12.       Freud and the study of the mind and its aberrations moves opera into a new century,            filled with both hope and fear. (Richard Strauss becomes an operatic force with the       new 1900s as we enter the 19th century).
13.       World War I changes Europe’s cultural face as well as America’s.  Composers and artists a comment on the period between the wars, and many are forced to flee for            their lives with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.  “Entartete Arte” (Degenerate            Art) was a reflection of society of its day, opera and other art forms followed.  The        current “Recovered Voices” project is an effort to bring to audience attention the             works of several composers affected the Nazi effort to control the art and culture of   a continent. 
14.       American Post-Modern Works.  Literary works are adapted in the U.S.  “Little            Women”, “Of Mice and Men”, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “Summer and Smoke”, “The Great Gatsby have all become recent operas, together with front page      headlines set to music.  “Nixon in China”, “The Death of Klinghofer”, “Dr. Atomic”,     “Dead Man Walking”, all attempt to set to music and discuss the problems inherent          in these events.  What’s next?

 

Bibliography
Many fine books are available, attempting to deal with the subject.  However, they are not easy to find.  These are intended as suggestions, should the participants locate copies.  There are many books dealing with individual composers, operas, and the underlying stories.  These will be provided as we approach each subject.  A few suggestions are given here:

Arblaster, Anthony.  Viva La Liberta!  Verso, 1992.  London, New York.
Bokina, John.  Opera and Politics.  From Monteverdi to Henze. Yale Univ. Press, 1997.
Brener, Milton.  Opera Offstage:  Passion and Politics Behind the Great Operas.  Walker &           Company.  (Powell Books, Portland, Oregon has this book available, new & used)            1996.

 

Pre-Meeting:  Thursday, August 14, 2008; 1:00 p.m.

 

 

 


index aboutPlato howToJoin courses majorEvents colloquiums otherActivities tuition calendar governance publications contributing contactUs lifelongLearning uclaExt