How to Listen to and Understand Opera

By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Robert Greenberg

To watch any opera lover listen to a favorite work, eyes clenched tight in concentration and passion, often betraying a tear, is to be almost envious. What must it be like, you might think, to love a piece of music so much?

And now one of music's most gifted teachers is offering you the opportunity to answer that very question, in a spellbinding series of 32 lectures that will introduce you to the transcendentally beautiful performing art that has enthralled audiences for more than 400 years.

As you meet the geniuses - including the likes of Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini - who have produced some of the landmark artistic achievements of the form, and listen to many of their most beautiful moments, you'll grasp how the addition of music can reveal truths beyond what mere spoken words can convey, and how opera's unique marriage of words and music makes the whole far greater than the sum of its parts.

Beginning with opera's origins in the early 17th century and continuing into the 20th, you'll trace the art's evolution and its ability to convey every shade of human emotion, whether sorrow or joy, drama or buffoonery. You'll understand how different types of voices enhance character. And you'll understand how the invention of the aria gave operatic composers a new power to make human emotions soar, adding to the impact of what continues to be one of the most beautiful musical forms ever devised.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1997 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1997 The Great Courses

Greenberg teaches, amuses.

A balanced approach, as much culture/history/philosophy on the one hand and music on the other.
- Jude Anthony

Great as usual

As I have come to expect from Robert Greenberg, this is great! Passionate and engaging narration, funny jokes, interesting theories.

Never thought I would be interested in Opera

Professor Greenberg has made me a convert. I started with his survey course and enjoyed it so much (How to listen to great music) I've been working my way through all his offerings. I've listened to several of them multiple times. His excitement and enjoyment of opera in the other sources convinced me to give this one and also the Mozart opera course a try. The course was very enjoyable as are all of his courses I've purchased. My only complaint is I wish this one had extended to more current operas as well. As soon as I could I went to see the Marriage of Figaro. I felt almost like an expert and enjoyed the performance so much more than when I first saw it years ago. Thanks you audible for offering these courses and at such an amazing price.

Extraordinary in every way possible!!

It is only two years now that I have begun to enjoy opera. Thanks to this course and this extraordinary passionate and knowledgeable professor, I now understand it more and therefore enjoy it much more! It taught me a lot about the history, and aroused me to go and research it is in further for the ones that I liked. Thank you a thousand times!!
Gave it also as a gift to my auntie, who is now enjoying it too :)

Incredibly informative captivating and rich

This is an amazing audio book and course . Very detailed and has so much information to enjoy . Audio is superb and the speaker is great. There are many operas shown in this series not just Italian . Expect French, German , Russian operas as well. And a highlight reel of operas greats and the origins of there many phases. Great sounding audio recordings of the operas I can not say how much I adored this book. Reading it made me realize how great operas are and how many of the operas I have heard of without knowing their names. Recommend for everyone .