Description:
For over three centuries Italian composers and dramatists have developed opera into a national art form that captures the changing facets of social, cultural, political and emotional life. Designed for anyone who would like to extend their knowledge, this course explores the development of Italian opera from the end of the Renaissance to the start of the 20th century, focusing upon some of the greatest achievements of composers such as Monteverdi, Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini and their contemporaries.
Content:
1. The beginnings – Monteverdi’s Orfeo
2. Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Cavalli’s La calisto and the origins of commercial opera
3. The rise of opera seria
4. The development of comic opera – Paisiello and La serva padrona
5. Rossini and Rossini mania – Il barbiere de Siviglia
6. The Donizetti, Bellini and age of bel canto
7. Verdi and the dominance of historical opera
8. Verdi’s mature style – Don Carlo and Otello
9. Realism and verismo - Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana
10. Turandot - Puccini’s final masterpiece

David Lesser studied the piano at the Royal College of Music in London and then the music composition at the University of Huddersfield. He was Senior Teaching Fellow in Music and Open Studies Certificate Cocoordinator at the University of Warwick (1993-2007). His music has been widely performed in Britain and Europe by Ensemble Aleph, Accroche Note, Linda Hirst, Ian Pace and others. As a performer he specializes in the music of the Twentieth century, vocal repertoire, and has given a number of world and British premieres. He is active as a composer, performer, lecturer and teacher.