Topics in Music History: Opera

In this course we will survey European opera from the high-baroque grandeur of George Frideric Handel to the fin-de-siècle horrors of Richard Strauss’s Salome and Electra. Beyond the musical and dramatic strategies that shape this wide and diverse range of works, we will consider the place of opera in the cultural, political, and philosophical contexts of its time and place. Class discussions will be supplemented by regular viewing sessions. 3 hrs. lect. / 3 hrs. screen