OPERA America’s Online Learning is back for its third season and first up is Verdi’s La traviata! The course will run from August 15 through September 12, 2008 with a link to a new lecture sent each week via e-mail. As a patron of Portland Opera, you can have access to the Online Learning course for La traviata free of charge.
What is Online Learning?
Designed as a service for opera lovers and those who wish to learn more about the art form, the courses offer an opportunity to explore the many dimensions of opera -- literature, music, visual art -- as well as learn more about the artists who make a night at the opera truly unforgettable.
The four-week courses cover topics such as the world of the composer, the opera’s source materials and music analysis. A comments section allows discussion between participants and the instructor. Links to the course lectures are e-mailed to participants once each week for four weeks, allowing you to review the course material at your own pace. Audio clips and production photos are also provided, aiding in the study of musical style and analysis.
About the Course
Verdi’s La traviata is based on the novel La Dame aux Comélias by Alexander Dumas, fils. The opera, considered controversial at the time of its premiere for its contemporary setting, is one of the most produced operas of all time.
Meet Your Instructor
Denise Gallo is a specialist in 19th-century Italian opera. Formerly an assistant professor and co-director of the music history division at The Catholic University of America, she holds a doctorate in historical musicology. Active in arts education, she is a frequent lecturer for Washington National Opera, Baltimore Opera, Washington Concert Opera, the Smithsonian Associates and Summer Opera Theatre Company. In 2006, she was a featured lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Education Series.
An active scholar, she presents her research at national and international musicological conferences. Her book, Opera: The Basics, was published in 2006 by Routledge. Other publications include a book on Rossini and a chapter on the libretto of Verdi’s Falstaff for The Verdi Sourcebook (Toccata Press). She is also preparing the volume of banda music for Critical Edition of the Works of Gioachino Rossini, to be published by Bärenreiter Press in 2008 and is at work on a book entitled Walt Whitman and Music: “I and my recitatives.”
Dr. Gallo is one of the senior music specialists at the Library of Congress, and has previously instructed an OPERA America Online Learning course on Rossini’s La Cenerentola.
Ask the Questions You Want Answered
In addition the Web-based course materials, you will be able to interact with Dr. Gallo and other course participants through the newly-added comments section, where new questions will be posted each week. You will have the opportunity to post comments and pose any questions you may have.
Registration
To register, send an e-mail with your name, street address and the e-mail address where you would like to receive the course information to education@portlandopera.org. Please be sure to include your e-mail address, as that is how you will receive the weekly lectures.
2008 - 2009 Season
In addition to La traviata, OPERA America is offering courses on three other operas this season -- Madama Butterfly, The Marriage of Figaro and a world-premiere opera by André Previn, Brief Encounter. To learn more and register for these courses, visit:
http://www.operaamerica.org/Content/Audiences/Programs/onlineLearning.aspx