Libretti and Librettists
Exploring the connection between words and music across the operatic art form.
About this Course
Introduction Video
FREE PREVIEWReading: Introduction to Reading Opera
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
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?
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
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