MCGY2615: The Ultimate Art: 400 Years of Opera

Three module tasks (60%), Final essay (40%).

MCGY2611 or MCGY2612 or MCGY2613 or MUSC1506

MCGY2615 was my final principal study unit for my major in Musicology which I chose to fulfil the mandatory Historical Studies component of my degree. After greatly enjoying my time in my foundation units for musicology, I decided to choose this elective to take which I figured would be both strongly useful for my own performance practice as a classical singer and challenging for my academic study.

I took this course completely online and found that it was organised and run efficiently. Having three different lecturers at first was a bit of a concern for me because I really value consistency but I think it was the best way to run this unit since each tutor specialised in the period of history they were covering. I especially enjoyed the 18th century week and 19th century weeks in this course because they felt like a natural extension from MCGY2612 last semester. I personally did not use the textbook much in this course other than to complete the assigned readings for each week. Otherwise, it was only really handy when it came to my assessments and even then, I preferred to find my own resources for the more niche operatic works I chose to analyse. As for the actual assessments, I liked that we had options for each module task so we could play with our strengths and present work that was reflective of our own interests. I think my other units should adopt this as well. Furthermore, you were not marked on tutorial preparation which took off a lot of pressure for me each week and I could adjust how much I prepared for each class depending on the number of readings I had to do and my commitments to other subjects. The marking turnaround for this subject was quite slow compared to everything else I took this semester but my lecturers were understandably in the middle of major research projects themselves to do.

I most appreciated the compassion of my tutors in this unit. I was generously granted extensions for three out of the four tasks which enabled me to handle each task with care and perform to my best. I was fortunate that they were sympathetic to my situation and am forever grateful for the feedback I was provided after each assessment which has helped my academic writing improve drastically. There were so many fond memories I made in this unit. I enjoyed the Break Out room discussions with my classmates, the Die Meistersinger watch party that was held at the end of the semester and I overall think it was so worth it. I am glad I was able to take this unit since it only comes around every two years and I hope that I can continue to engage with operas and the issues surrounding them in the future.

1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 2 hour tutorial

3/5

Yes; the lectures were presented live and uploaded afterwards for viewing. The tutorials were also run live and recorded.

Alan Maddox, David Larkin and Michael Halliwell

None

4.5/5

Cambridge Introductions to Music Opera (Robert Cannon)

2020, Semester 2

89 HD