Languages & Culture
Music Appreciation: Shakespeare and Verdi
Course overview
Verdi dominated Italian opera in the 19C with a series of highly dramatic works. He was an avid reader of literature and the great playwrights; most of his operas are derived from their works. His favourite writer was Shakespeare and he took great pride in his operatic settings of Macbeth, Othello and Falstaff. If you are a lover of Shakespeare, then you will learn how an operatic setting with its dramatic music and singing can provide an enhanced experience of these great dramas.
Course description
From the 20+ operas written by Verdi during his 50 year career, this course will focus on the three ‘Shakespeare’ operas written at key points in his life - Macbeth, Othello and Falstaff. The course will tell the story of how these operas came to be written, with the latter two created after a long period of inactivity when no new operas were produced. You will gain an insight into Verdi’s modus operandi, his obsession for detail and his love of Shakespeare. To illustrate Verdi’s great dramatic skills, extensive audio and video excerpts from these works will be presented. You will also learn about his fear of making an operatic setting of King Lear, which Verdi many times started but did not bring to fruition.
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