MUSC 215 Making Opera in Los Angeles

The history of opera is a history of the continuous reinvention of a genre in order it to accommodate the time place and tastes of its audiences; as such opera provides a lens for studying cultural intellectual political and economic history. With now even non-operatic companies like the Los Angeles Philharmonic staging operas in Disney Hall opera has in the past three decades especially become a terrific lens for studying Los Angeles.This course will study opera as delimited by its production and reception in Los Angeles over the past century. We will research what operas were first produced in Los Angeles where and for what audiences and how the production and reception of opera and later zarzuela evolved over the course of the twentieth century and into the new millennium as Hollywood directors such as Woody Allen and William Friedkin have turned to directing opera. Students will attend operas principally at LA Opera our community partner but also at Long Beach Opera the Los Angeles Philharmonic and other SoCal venue.