Crosslisted with RCHUMS 344.001 (home department)

How do opera's beginnings – in its practice, production, and performance, especially by the sensational, virtuosic castrati – speak (or sing) to us today? What does it reveal about the ongoing formation of Western aesthetic attitudes, desires, and values of musical and stage performance?

In this seminar-style class, we examine opera's early history as both foundation and mirror. We explore the profound influence and crucial legacy of the high-voiced, castrated male virtuoso singer, the castrato, on Western vocal music and technique, customs of gender performance during and after their heyday, and international stardom even up to the present day. We expose the inner workings and politics of 17th-18th century opera production from its beginnings to Mozart, from palace to opera house, from royal privilege to the people's art. And we consider the social and political circumstances in Europe that required/allowed/enabled men to portray women and, later, women to portray men on the opera stage. As students watch and listen to modern performances of this repertoire, read recent scholarship, engage in lively class discussion, and follow related research of their own choice, they collaboratively generate perspectives on how the complex political, gender, musical, and social forces of our deep artistic past continue to operate today.