MUS2525 – Opera through the stage door

Course content

This course seeks to introduce students to the practices and possibilities of stage interpretation. Students will be invited into the concert halls in order to gain a critical understanding of how meaning is created in the rehearsal room. Having actively observed the work of interpretation in the course of rehearsals, students will in turn be asked to formulate their own conceptual approaches to a given work. A keen interest in the nature of artistic interpretation and a willingness to think expansively, creatively, and rigorously about how meaning-making transpires in artistic practice is required.

We will discuss a broad range of materials, encompassing musicological works that offer insight into the specific musical production being staged, to more theoretical work.

Learning outcome

By the end of the course, the student will:

• have gained familiarity with the form and experience of musical production as an historical, theoretical, and process-based art form
• have gained familiarity with the elements of a musical production and how they are being deployed
• have developed increased awareness of historical, commercial, and social factors in the musical industry
• have gained skills in aural and visual perception, critical assessment, and reasoning, and applied these skills to written work
• be able to prepare an analysis of a musical production as a basis for discussion of? elements such as dramaturgy and musical meaning-making

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with MUS4525 – Opera through the stage door (discontinued).

Teaching

• 4 double lessons lectures/seminars
• 5 sessions at a musical production chosen for course this semester

PLEASE NOTE: Attendance is obligatory for all sessions arranged for this course.

Examination

The exam consists of a term paper which should be limited to a maximum of 10 pages of approximately 2,300 characters (not including spaces), with title and topic as agreed between student and instructor, to be handed in by a specified date at the end of the semester.

Bibliography, appendices, and/or diagrams are not included in the page count.?

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• How to use AI as a student
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.