Types of Course Materials

  • Lectures

    All Metropolitan Opera Guild online courses include a variety of lecture video footage to help bring our in-person programming to our online learners.

  • Readings

    Each lesson includes readings from noted authorities, along with response questions, giving you the opportunity to think critically and engage deeply with the operas under study.

  • Musical Examples

    Lessons include a combination of scores, audio, and video examples to illustrate concepts and ideas discussed in the lecture and readings.

Course Curriculum

  • 1
    Introduction to Operatic Libretti
  • 2
    Introduction to Italian Poetic Meter
    • About this Chapter
    • Lecture Video: Introduction to Italian Poetic Meter
    • Handout: Italian Poetic Meter Summary
    • Handout: "Un'aura amorosa" from COSÌ FAN TUTTE - Text, Translation, and Poetic Meter
    • Score: "Un'aura amorosa" from COSÌ FAN TUTTE
  • 3
    Lorenzo Da Ponte
    • About this Chapter
    • Video Lecture: Lorenzo Da Ponte - Part 1
    • Video Lecture: Lorenzo Da Ponte - Part 2
    • Reading: The Sources of an 'original' Libretto by Bruce Alan Brown
    • Reading: Did Casanova Help Da Ponte write Don Giovanni?
  • 4
    Salvadore Cammarano
    • About this Chapter
    • Video Lecture: Salvadore Cammarano
    • Reading: Cammarano's Working Methods
    • Reading: Numbers and Structure of a Libretto
    • Reading: Operatic Adaptations of The Bride of Lammermoor
    • Reading: Setting the Stage - Italian Poetic Meter and IL TROVATORE
    • Listening: “Ah! Sì, ben mio, coll’essere… Di quella pira” from Act 3, Scene 6 of Verdi's Il trovatore
    • Handout: "Di Quella Pira" from IL TROVATORE - Text, Translation, and Poetic Meter
    • Score: "Ah! Si, ben mio... Di quella pira" from IL TROVATORE
    • Score: Excerpts from LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
    • Source Material Text: "The Bride of Lammermoor" by Sir Walter Scott, Chapters 32-35
  • 5
    Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica
    • About this Chapter
    • Lecture Video: Giuseppe Giacosa
    • Lecture Video: Luigi Illica
    • Reading: Mimì's Death - Puccini vs. Leoncavallo's LA BOHÈME
    • Reading: Tosca's Rome - An Exploration of Act III
    • Listening: Tosca, Act III, "E lucevan le stelle"
    • Reading: Problems in the Genesis of MADAMA BUTTERFLY

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Instructor

  • Naomi Barrettara

    Naomi Barrettara

    Lecturer

    Naomi Barrettara is a program development consultant and staff lecturer at The Metropolitan Opera Guild involved with several of the Guild’s community programs, including Opera Boot Camp, Score Reading, and Continuing Education classes. She is also a cohost and producer of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Podcast, established in the fall of 2015. In addition to her work at the Guild, Naomi is a cofounder and cohost of the podcast Opera After Dark, and works on various freelance digital media projects. Naomi holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, with an additional certificate in interactive technology and pedagogy. Her main research areas include opera studies, public musicology, and classical music in the digital age.