• Columbia syllabus, Spring 2020 • About the Instructor • Return to Index
12 classes
"The course of true love never did run smooth." Opera composers must have taken Shakespeare's words to heart, because the majority of operas deal with love and its vagaries. We have lovers who overcome obstacles, lovers who tragically fail, heroes torn between love and duty, proud people who reject love and then regret it. Then love itself can be a problem, leading to fickleness, adultery, jealousy, and revenge. There are opera characters who use love as a weapon, others who hide behind it as a shield, still others for whom love is a disease. Our anatomy of operatic love will include both the very young and the long married. We shall also look at loving friendships and the love of a parent for a child. Illustrated with examples from Rossini to Benjamin Britten.