What is comic opera? What can we learn from historic examples?
Composer Andrew Lovett and director/performer/writer and composer Rinde Eckert will lead a course about making and performing opera. Our starting point will be the three comic operas by Mozart and Da Ponte (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte). We will examine techniques and look at the themes and context of these pieces to take inspiration for our own work.
Sample reading list:
W A Mozart and L DaPonte, Cosi Fan Tutte (vocal score)
See instructor for complete list
Reading/Writing assignments:
We will discuss the opera buffa tradition and the comedia tradition and the way that Mozart and Da Ponte consciously fused elements from these “low” art-forms with elements from “high” art. The main assignment will be participation in the preparation of a workshop-style performance. Other 80% (Final Creative Project): Students will collaborate in creating work which will be presented with a new piece being written by the course-leaders.
Other information:
Andrew Lovett is a composer with a background in theater and opera. Rinde Eckert is a performer (singer, actor, instrumentalist), a director, a writer and a composer. This course arises from conversations between us about the legacy of the three Mozart/DaPonte operas and what they mean to us. The project that we will be developing is one-act chamber opera about a scientific lecture-demonstration which confuses two young couples. What is love and can we measure it?
