Program Overview

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MUSICAL DRAMATURGY

Course Description

The course tackles a musical phenomenon with drama-performance implications at a Master's level: from opera to the different forms of musical theatre to drama-musical genres bereft of a stage (such as oratorios or passions). The focus is on the meeting point between music and theatre, examining how the different languages (verbal, musical, performative) interact reciprocally giving place to an aesthetic object of value.

Aims and Content

Learning Outcomes

The course aims to develop awareness of the central questions of musical theatre in its historical development in the modern and contemporary period, giving students the necessary theoretical instruments for a critical evaluation of the interaction between music and theatre in the broader sense of the term.

Aims and Learning Outcomes

The course aims at developing – at the level of knowledge – the awareness of the central questions of musical theatre in its historical development in modern and contemporary age, giving students – at the level of abilities - the necessary theoretical instruments for a critical evaluation of the interaction between music and theatre in the broader sense of the term.

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of history of music and theatre in Europe, 17th to 20th centuries.

Teaching Methods

Lectures with systematic use of audiovisual support: CD, DVD, web. Attending class is strongly recommended. Registering to the course Aulaweb is strongly recommended in order to obtain information and materials.

Syllabus/Content

Italian Opera in Vienna under Maria Theresia and Joseph II

The city of Vienna, where the Classical Style developed starting from the 1760s, has been an extraordinary theatrical laboratory, where different national traditions and aesthetic concepts shared reciprocal influences.

Recommended Reading/Bibliography

Required Readings (9 CFU)

1. R. Mellace, Vienna negli anni Sessanta del Settecento: un autentico laboratorio teatrale, in F.L. Gassmann, L'opera seria, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025, pp. 53-59.
2. R. Mellace, L'autunno del Metastasio. Gli ultimi drammi per musica di Johann Adolf Hasse, Firenze, Olschki («Historiae Musicae Cultores» 110), 2007, pp. 20-30, 36-57, 111-118, 121-127, 137-147, 211-227.
3. C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Programma di sala, Teatro La Fenice, 2015.
4. G. Carli Ballola, "Alceste", o la religione del classicismo, in C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 1987, pp. 45-52.
5. W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025.
6. A.L. Bellina, "Mitridate", "Ruggiero" e "Lucio Silla". Tre allestimenti intorno a Parini, in L'amabil rito. Società e cultura nella Milano di Parini, II, La musica e le arti, a c. di G. Barbarisi, C. Capra, F. Degrada e F. Mazzocca, Bologna, Cisalpino, 2000, pp. 751-766.
7. C.W. Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice, numero monografico «VeneziaMusica e dintorni», 111, aprile 2023.
8. R. Mellace, Johann Adolf Hasse, Palermo, L'Epos, 2004, pp. 301-305.
9. R. Mellace, Introduzione a C. Goldoni, Drammi comici per musica. IV., a c. di A. Vencato, Venezia, Marsilio, 2020, pp. 24-101.
10. F.L. Gassmann, L'opera seria, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2025.
11. W.A. Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, Programma di sala, Edizioni del Teatro alla Scala, 2023.
12. J. Rice, Il contributo di Salieri all'opera viennese, in Salieri sulle tracce di Mozart, Catalogo della mostra, Milano, Palazzo Reale, 3 dicembre 2004 – 30 gennaio 2005, a c. di H. Lachmayer, T. Haigermoser e R. Eisendle, Kassel, Bärenreiter, 2004, pp. 101-105.
13. F. Blanchetti, Avventure di Trofonio fra Salieri e Paisiello, in Antonio Salieri ), e il teatro musicale a Vienna. Convenzioni, innovazioni, contaminazioni stilistiche, Lucca, LIM, 2012, pp. 273-302.
14. Libretto (included in the above-mentioned programma books), audio or video recording of the following operas: J.A. Hasse, Il trionfo di Clelia, Il Ruggiero, Alcide al bivio, Piramo e Tisbe; C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice; W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Le nozze di Figaro; G. Scarlatti, Dov'è amore è gelosia; F.L. Gassmann, L'opera seria; A. Salieri, La grotta di Trofonio.

Alternative Readings for English-speaking Students

• D. Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style,, New York, W.W. Norton, 2003.
• I. Schraffl, Italian Opera in Vienna in the 1770s: Repertoire and Reception – Data and Facts, in «Musicologica Austriaca: Journal for Austrian Music Studies», 26, 2020.
• Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna, ed. by J. Webster e M. Hunter, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
• R. Mellace, 1770/71: Jommelli, Hasse and Mozart Confronting the Opera Seria Tradition, in Die Wiener Klassiker und das Italien ihrer Zeit. Festchrift für Christian Speck zum 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. von Petra Weber («Studien zur Musik», 19), Paderborn, Wilhelm Fink, 2015, pp. 161-187.
• J.A. Rice, Antonio Salieri and the Viennese Opera, The University of Chicago, Chicago 1998.
• Libretto, audio or video recording of the following operas: J.A. Hasse, Il trionfo di Clelia, Il Ruggiero, Alcide al bivio, Piramo e Tisbe; C.W. Gluck, Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice; W.A. Mozart, Mitridate re di Ponto, Le nozze di Figaro; G. Scarlatti, Dov'è amore è gelosia; F.L. Gassmann, L'opera seria; A. Salieri, La grotta di Trofonio.

Teachers and Exam Board

• Raffaele Mellace
• Giada Roberta Viviani

Lessons

Lessons Start

10th February 2026.

Class Schedule

The timetable for this course is available on the Portale EasyAcademy.

Exams

Exam Description

Oral exam.

Assessment Methods

The exam consists of an assessment of the contents of the course and the bibliography. Knowledge of the authors, genre and historical-cultural context of the works treated in the course programme. The evaluation will consider knowledge of the programme (topics tackled in lectures, readings indicated in the bibliography, material made available on Aulaweb, mandatory or optional operas), as well as presentation ability, use of specific lexicon and capacity for critical reworking.

Exam Schedule

• 16/12/2025, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, Aula 8, via Balbi 2
• 19/01/2026, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, aula 1 Albergo dei Poveri
• 05/02/2026, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, aula E Polo didattico via Fontane
• 18/06/2026, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, Aula 1 Albergo dei Poveri
• 01/07/2026, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, Aula 1 Albergo dei Poveri
• 16/07/2026, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, Aula 1 Albergo dei Poveri
• 01/09/2026, 10:00, GENOVA, Orale, Polo Didattico - Aula B

Further Information

Enrolling in the course's Aulaweb is warmly recommended. Erasmus students should speak with the instructor as lectures start, in order to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams. Erasmus students not proficient in Italian may request a substitutive bibliography, and take the examination in English, French or German.