Verdi and the Italian Melodrama of the 19th Century

The study of Italian culture, literature and music cannot be studied independently from opera and melodrama. It is within this genre that many authors, librettists, and musicians have pursued their artistic endeavors for long centuries. In the 19th century it is the melodrama that serves as a vehicle for the expression of romantic and risorgimental ideals. The communicative dimension of the genre developed within the dimension of theatre, which involves a public that is vast and stratified. Opera was driven in its course of evolution by structural definitions and taste, which were in close dialogue with developments in intellectual thinking and other art forms. This course will focus on historical aspects, formal constitution, aesthetic meanings, poetic motivations, musical and technical languages, social correlations and dimensions of production within the Italian operatic tradition. Special attention will be given to the 19th century and the epoch of Giuseppe Verdi.

Required texts: Massimo Mila, Verdi (a cura di Pietro Gelli), Milano, Rizzoli, 2000. ISBN 8817865354, 9788817865357