Special Lecture: Introduction to Opera

Academic unit or major

Humanities and social science courses

Instructor(s)

Taro Yamazaki

Class Format

Lecture

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

Class

-

Course Code

LAH.H213

Number of credits

200

Course offered

2025

Offered quarter

3Q

Syllabus updated

Mar 19, 2025

Language

Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

＞Opera＜ is a unique genre of composite art, in which music and text, visual and audible elements are combined to describe human emotions and social aspects with themes such as love and death. The instructor picks up several representative works, explains ①their cultural, social and historical backgrounds, ②how the words and music relate in each work, ③history of the genre from the aspects of formal developments, shows ④how the impression of the same work can vary through the difference of the musical and dramatic interpretation with visual and audio examples (DVDs and CDs). Through getting to know each work from various aspects students can feel that the theme, message and emotions that are handled in the opera are closely related to us who are living in this modern complicated society.

Course description and aims

By the end of the semester students will
1)realize the charm of this composite art genre that can express human emotion and social situation with a unique combination of words, music and visual elements.
2)see another aspect of European culture and history through the genre that was born in the aristocratic society in the 17th century, adapted to civil society (bourgeoisie) in the nineteenth century and still has appealing actuality for those who are living in this modern and global society.

Keywords

composite art, music, word, drama, culture and history of Eurpope

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

A selection of a few operas has been carefully chosen from among many works, with the goal of gaining deep insight into a small number of pieces rather than covering many works superficially. By fully immersing in each opera as a whole, participants will be able to appreciate the vastness and richness of the operatic world that lies behind these works. This course will focus primarily on the following operas: Puccini’s La Bohème, Wagner’s Lohengrin, and Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.
The course will be structured as follows:
1. Analysis of the libretto and the music of each opera.
2. Examination of the historical background in which each work was created, as well as the social messages conveyed by the opera.
3. Comparative appreciation of different performances and stage productions.
4. An overview of the historical development of opera as an art form.
The classes will primarily consist of lectures by the instructor and video screenings (e.g., DVDs), but active participation from students—through discussions, questions, assignments, and reflections on the lessons—is strongly encouraged. Additionally, students are expected to allocate time outside of the scheduled class hours for independent study, such as watching YouTube videos for preparation and review.

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing and reviewing afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to the course material and watching videos.

Textbook(s)

All texts are given in classes by the instructor.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Instructions or handouts at the beginning of each class

Evaluation methods and criteria

The scores are based on assignments during and after classes (60%) and the final report(40%) .

Related courses

• LAH.H309 ： Special Lecture: Music
• LAH.H211 ： World Literature 1
• LAH.H212 ： World Literature 2
• LAH.H210 ： Intercultural Studies: Europe and Latin America
• LAH.H110 ： Introduction to Foreign Languages 1
• LAH.H111 ： Introduction to Foreign Languages 2
• LAH.C101 ： Tokyo Tech Visionary Project

Prerequisites

Students must attend the first class as the number of participants needs to be limited.

Other

Those who don’t have any knowledge about opera are as welcome as great fans of opera, as long as they can follow basic attendance manner (which overlaps with that for seeing operas in a theater) and show enthusiasm and interests to participate in classes through reading reference books and prints, watching and listening to visual and audio materials, and writing assignments. It is also highly recommended that you attend an opera performance staged in the Tokyo area during or after the class period.