Lifelong Learning fall classes

How to Listen to and Understand Opera

 Professor Robert Greenberg

  Thursday - March 7, 14, 21, 28

11 AM-12:30 PM

With the knowledge of opera from this course, you will understand how music has the power to reveal truths beyond the spoken word; how opera is a unique marriage of words and music in which the whole is far greater than its parts. You will learn the reasons for opera's enduring popularity. And you will be able to explore in great depth the extraordinary and compelling world of opera.

Professor Greenberg is to the lecture what Mozart was to opera. Brilliant, irreverent toward his subject and yet awed by it, he is ingenious in his approach to ensure that his work will have its intended effect on the listener.

The music is transcendently beautiful. In this course, you will listen to some of the most extraordinary artistic works of all time. Customers who have taken this course report:

• "Dr. Greenberg performed a miracle—he made me enjoy opera."
• "Now I understand why I already loved opera."
• "Excellent course! Professor Greenberg gives a lively, informative presentation that opens the heart to love opera as well as the mind to understand it!"

The history of opera is traced from its beginning in the early 17th century to around 1924. The lectures examine landmark operas; musical, cultural, and social developments that influenced opera's growth; and the influence of national languages and cultures on opera.