Italian Language for Opera 1 (MUSI90165)

Students will study the pronunciation, articulation, and enunciation of the Italian language in order to fully convey the emotional expression of operatic singing to ensure a clearer understanding by the audience. Students will develop a comprehensive knowledge of phonetics and phonology of Italian through the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet as well as an ability to correctly configure the oral tract to produce the speech sounds of the different vowels and consonants in order to ensure an accurate representation and performance of the Italian language as required of professional opera performers. The study of Italian will be applied to specific role(s) that students may be undertaking in operas being performed during the semester and/or to other operatic repertoire. Students will also undertake the study of the basic structures of Italian to develop their ability to fully appreciate operatic text and develop beginning conversational ability.