Musical Dramaturgy
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
The course develops students' aptitude to understand and interpret different kinds of music in different music genres and media contexts (theatre music, opera, cinema, etc.). It also aims to encourage them to develop what we could call a "dramaturgical listening" or, to say it in other words, a "dramaturgical awareness" of how music can contribute to define characters, generate action, establish atmosphere (etc.) in a broad range of dramatic genres and media.
The main learning scope of the course of musical dramaturgy/dramaturgy of sound is to enable students to relate their musical ear with the listening to music in an intermedial environment.
The main learning scope of the course of musical dramaturgy/dramaturgy of sound is to enable students to relate their musical ear with the listening to music in an intermedial environment.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the dramatic functions of music in theatre, opera, cinema, etc., with reference to the monographic subject explored each new academic year.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course Title (2023-24 A.Y.):
Romeo and Juliet in an intermedial perspective.
The course focuses on a number of adaptations and remediations of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, whose story will be considered as an "intermedial myth" in the sense of Lévi-Strauss's understanding of myth "as the sum of its variants." The course is structured in three parts of 20 hours each.
A. The first part is centered in the analysis and interpretation of three cases taken from the field of opera and musical theatre: the opera by Vincenzo Bellini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, stage direction by Christof Loy (Zurich 2015, DVD available); the opera by Charles Gounod, Roméo et Juliette, stage direction by Olivier Py (Amsterdam 2010, DVD available); and the "musical spectacle" Roméo et Juliette, de la haine à l'amour by Gérard Presgurvic (Paris 2001, full video available on YouTube).
B. The second part focuses on three cinematic adaptations of Romeo and Juliet: George Cukor's Romeo and Juliet, music by Herbert Stothart (1936, DVD available); Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo e Giulietta, music by Nino Rota (1968, DVD available); and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, music by Nellee Hooper, Marius de Vries and Craig Armstrong (1996, DVD also available).
C. The third part is based on three intermedial adaptations of Romeo and Juliet: the radio version of Romeo e Giulietta, stage adaptation by Carmelo Bene, original music by Luigi Zito (1976, available on YouTube); the choreographic version by Sasha Waltz of Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette (Paris 2012, available on the platform www.bilibili.com); and West Side Story, the remake by Steven Spielberg of the1961 film of the same name (DVD available).
Romeo and Juliet in an intermedial perspective.
The course focuses on a number of adaptations and remediations of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, whose story will be considered as an "intermedial myth" in the sense of Lévi-Strauss's understanding of myth "as the sum of its variants." The course is structured in three parts of 20 hours each.
A. The first part is centered in the analysis and interpretation of three cases taken from the field of opera and musical theatre: the opera by Vincenzo Bellini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, stage direction by Christof Loy (Zurich 2015, DVD available); the opera by Charles Gounod, Roméo et Juliette, stage direction by Olivier Py (Amsterdam 2010, DVD available); and the "musical spectacle" Roméo et Juliette, de la haine à l'amour by Gérard Presgurvic (Paris 2001, full video available on YouTube).
B. The second part focuses on three cinematic adaptations of Romeo and Juliet: George Cukor's Romeo and Juliet, music by Herbert Stothart (1936, DVD available); Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo e Giulietta, music by Nino Rota (1968, DVD available); and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, music by Nellee Hooper, Marius de Vries and Craig Armstrong (1996, DVD also available).
C. The third part is based on three intermedial adaptations of Romeo and Juliet: the radio version of Romeo e Giulietta, stage adaptation by Carmelo Bene, original music by Luigi Zito (1976, available on YouTube); the choreographic version by Sasha Waltz of Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette (Paris 2012, available on the platform www.bilibili.com); and West Side Story, the remake by Steven Spielberg of the1961 film of the same name (DVD available).
Prerequisites for admission
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the course, students need a basic knowledge of the music, opera, theatre, and cinema history. So, it is advisable that students choose Musical Dramaturgy after having attended two or three of the afore mentioned courses.
Teaching methods
The course is based on class lectures which are integrated by bibliographic and multimedia teaching materials uploaded to the Teams platform. The classes will alternate theoretical and historical overviewes with analysis and collective discussions of the treated case studies.
Teaching Resources
Before the beginning of the course, students will be asked to know Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (in a full text and accurate edition). For an in-depth investigation on the concept of "adaptation", students will have to read: Linda Hutcheon, Teoria degli adattamenti. I percorsi delle storie fra letteratura, cinema, nuovi media, Roma, Armando, 2011, pp. 19-59.
Part A [Opera and Musical Theatre]
Besides the three videos mentioned above, students have to study these written texts:
- Emanuele Senici, "In the Score": Music and Media in the Discourse of Operatic Mise-en-scène, in «The Opera Quarterly», vol. 35, fasc. 3, 2019, pp. 207-223 (article available on unimi website).
- Clemens Risi, Opera in Performance: "Regietheater" and Performative Turn, in «The Opera Quarterly», vol. 35, fasc. 1-2, 2019, pp. 7-19 (article available on unimi website).
- Fabio Vittorini, "Eccetto la catastrofe finale". Per una genealogia italiana della storia di "Romeo e Giulietta", in Shakespeare all'opera. Riscritture e allestimenti di "Romeo e Giulietta", a cura di M. I. Biggi e Michele Girardi, Bari, edizioni di pagina, 2018, pp. 3-13.
- Emilio Sala, Nel sonno di Juliette. (Alla ricerca del "drame lyrique"), in Charles Gounod, Roméo et Juliette, Teatro Petruzzelli program book, Bari, 2022, pp. 17-33.
- Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario, The French Musicals: The Dramatic Impulse of Spectacle, «Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism», vol. 19, n. 1, 2004, pp. 125-142.
Part B [Cinema]
Besides the three videos mentioned above, students have to study these written texts:
- Linda K. Schubert, "A Brilliant New Symphonic Effect": The "New" Early Music in Stothart's Score for Romeo and Juliet (1936), in «Journal of Film Music», IV, n. 1, 2012, pp. 27-43.
- Kate C. Stover, Franco Zeffirelli, Baz Luhrmann, Romeo and Juliet, MA Thesis, Carson, California State University Dominguez Hills, 2010 (available on unimi website).
- Lindsey Scott, Closed in a Dead Man's Tomb: Juliet, Space, and the Body in Franco Zeffirelli's and Baz Luhrmann's Films of "Romeo and Juliet", in «Literature Film Quarterly», XXXVI, n. 2, 2008, pp. 137-146 (available on unimi website).
Modulo C [Intermedial Adaptations]
Besides the three videos mentioned above, students have to study these written texts:
- Gianfranco Bartalotta, Romeo e Giulietta [di Carmelo Bene, 1976], in Carmelo Bene e Shakespeare, Roma, Bulzoni, 2000, pp. 63-86.
- Jonas Kellermann, A breach of silence: affective soundscapes in Shasha Waltz's "Roméo et Juliette", in «Cahiers Élisabéthains», 102 (2020), pp. 38-53 (available on unimi website).
- Michele Girardi, "There's a place for us": Giulietta e Romeo nel West-Side, in Shakespeare all'opera. Riscritture e allestimenti di "Romeo e Giulietta", a cura di M. I. Biggi e Michele Girardi, Bari, edizioni di pagina, 2018, pp. 187-199.
ADDING READINGS FOR NOT ATTENDINGS STUDENTS:
- Cristina Paravano, "Reappropriating" Romeo and Juliet: the Play Restored to Italy, in «New Theatre Quarterly», XXXIV, n. 2, 2018, pp. 186-194 (available on unimi website).
- Courtney Lehmann, Screen Adaptations. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, London, Bloomsbury, 2010.
- Susan Bennett, Theory for Theatre Studies: Sound, London, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2019.
Part A [Opera and Musical Theatre]
Besides the three videos mentioned above, students have to study these written texts:
- Emanuele Senici, "In the Score": Music and Media in the Discourse of Operatic Mise-en-scène, in «The Opera Quarterly», vol. 35, fasc. 3, 2019, pp. 207-223 (article available on unimi website).
- Clemens Risi, Opera in Performance: "Regietheater" and Performative Turn, in «The Opera Quarterly», vol. 35, fasc. 1-2, 2019, pp. 7-19 (article available on unimi website).
- Fabio Vittorini, "Eccetto la catastrofe finale". Per una genealogia italiana della storia di "Romeo e Giulietta", in Shakespeare all'opera. Riscritture e allestimenti di "Romeo e Giulietta", a cura di M. I. Biggi e Michele Girardi, Bari, edizioni di pagina, 2018, pp. 3-13.
- Emilio Sala, Nel sonno di Juliette. (Alla ricerca del "drame lyrique"), in Charles Gounod, Roméo et Juliette, Teatro Petruzzelli program book, Bari, 2022, pp. 17-33.
- Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario, The French Musicals: The Dramatic Impulse of Spectacle, «Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism», vol. 19, n. 1, 2004, pp. 125-142.
Part B [Cinema]
Besides the three videos mentioned above, students have to study these written texts:
- Linda K. Schubert, "A Brilliant New Symphonic Effect": The "New" Early Music in Stothart's Score for Romeo and Juliet (1936), in «Journal of Film Music», IV, n. 1, 2012, pp. 27-43.
- Kate C. Stover, Franco Zeffirelli, Baz Luhrmann, Romeo and Juliet, MA Thesis, Carson, California State University Dominguez Hills, 2010 (available on unimi website).
- Lindsey Scott, Closed in a Dead Man's Tomb: Juliet, Space, and the Body in Franco Zeffirelli's and Baz Luhrmann's Films of "Romeo and Juliet", in «Literature Film Quarterly», XXXVI, n. 2, 2008, pp. 137-146 (available on unimi website).
Modulo C [Intermedial Adaptations]
Besides the three videos mentioned above, students have to study these written texts:
- Gianfranco Bartalotta, Romeo e Giulietta [di Carmelo Bene, 1976], in Carmelo Bene e Shakespeare, Roma, Bulzoni, 2000, pp. 63-86.
- Jonas Kellermann, A breach of silence: affective soundscapes in Shasha Waltz's "Roméo et Juliette", in «Cahiers Élisabéthains», 102 (2020), pp. 38-53 (available on unimi website).
- Michele Girardi, "There's a place for us": Giulietta e Romeo nel West-Side, in Shakespeare all'opera. Riscritture e allestimenti di "Romeo e Giulietta", a cura di M. I. Biggi e Michele Girardi, Bari, edizioni di pagina, 2018, pp. 187-199.
ADDING READINGS FOR NOT ATTENDINGS STUDENTS:
- Cristina Paravano, "Reappropriating" Romeo and Juliet: the Play Restored to Italy, in «New Theatre Quarterly», XXXIV, n. 2, 2018, pp. 186-194 (available on unimi website).
- Courtney Lehmann, Screen Adaptations. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, London, Bloomsbury, 2010.
- Susan Bennett, Theory for Theatre Studies: Sound, London, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2019.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The assessment procedure consists of an oral exam on the topics developed during the course, by mark expressed on (the threshold to pass the exam) to the maximum of 30 (cum laude).
Unita' didattica A
L-ART/07 - MUSICOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-ART/07 - MUSICOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-ART/07 - MUSICOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)