Melodies of Italy

Melodies of Italy: learn Italian through opera.

Course organisation:

The course includes 4 hours of general Italian in the mornings + 1 hour on opera in the afternoons.

Course objective:

To spread Italian culture through opera, encouraging the emotional involvement of students in themes such as love, passion, jealousy, the thirst for power, expressed in the works themselves and to improve both students' listening and speaking skills in Italian through the analysis of the most famous arias.

Work and themes analysed:

  • The Barber of Seville and the theme of love and deception. The opera is a comedy, appreciated for its humour and Rossini's lively music. It debuted at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on 20 February 1846 and is one of the most loved and performed works in the Italian and world opera repertoire. Aria analysed: Largo al factotum della città.

  • Nabucco and the theme of freedom and love for the native land against oppression and power. Opera by Giuseppe Verdi which debuted at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 9 March 1842. Aria analysed: Và pensiero, which has become an Italian patriotic anthem.

  • La Traviata and the theme of love and the social and moral conventions of the society of the time. Opera by Giuseppe Verdi performed for the first time on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice Theatre in Venice. Aria analysed: "Il brindisi".

  • Madama Butterfly and the theme of unrequited love and cultural deception. It is a work that highlights the cultural differences between West and East and their values ​​represented by Butterfly, a young Japanese geisha and Pinkerton, an American marine. Giacomo Puccini's opera was presented for the first time at the Teatro alla Scala on 17 February 1904. Aria analysed: "Un bel dì vedremo".

Final Project:

Presentation session: the student presents one of the works discussed during the course to the class, sharing the knowledge acquired, improving their ability to make a presentation in Italian and their critical analysis.

 * To attend this course you should have at least an A2 level of Italian.

 

If you want to find out your level of Italian, please do our test.

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