Composer Topics (346-0-1)
Topic
Verdi
Instructors
Jesse Rosenberg
847/467-2033
j-rosenberg1@northwestern.edu
Specialist in 19th- and 20th-century Italian opera, with articles published on Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi; papers read at national and international conferences on opera and film music history. Research interests in musical aesthetics and the convergence of music with fields such as literature, poetry, and theology. Contributor, New Grove Dictionary of Opera (Macmillan, 1992), Pipers Enzyclopädie des Musiktheaters (Pipers, 1996), New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Macmillan, 2000). Outstanding Dissertation Award and Excellence in Teaching Award, New York University. Faculty Honor Roll, Northwestern University.
Meeting Info
RCMA 1-164: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
A selection of Verdi's works including Nabucco, Ernani, Macbeth, Luisa Miller, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Les Vêpres Siciliennes, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Forza del Destino, Don Carlos, Aida, Otello, Falstaff, and the Messa da Requiem will provide a variaty of entry points into the study of the music of Verdi. Among other issues, we will consider how the librettos were adapted from previously existing dramatic or literary works; the "double aria" and other formal conventions of 19th-century Italian opera; vocal embellishments, government censorship of Verdi's operas, controversies regarding "original language" and other issues of performance practice; the disposizioni sceniche and their implications for the staging of Verdi's operas; the relations between Verdi and his librettists, publishers, singers, and impresarios; the impact of Verdi's political views and personal life on his works; the dramatic and musical depiction of race and religion; and the presentation of race and ethnicity in such works as Un ballo in Maschera, Aida, and Otello.
Evaluation Method
EVALUATION is based on three written assignments (25 points each), a final examination (15 points) or research paper, an aria quiz (5 points), and class discussion (5 points), . Contributions to class discussion, whether spoken or in writing, should be based on an assimilation of the reading, listening, and viewings assigned, in addition to whatever original insights you share. Graduate students may undertake a research project in lieu of the final exam if they obtain the instructor's approval of topic by midway through the course; these graduate students will also give a 5-minute presentation of their topic in class, and the research paper is due on the date set aside for the Final Exam.