Music 307
Spring 2024
Second Paper topic
due Wednesday, May 1 at 11:59 pm (via Brightspace)
Your second paper revolves around the Stony Brook production of The Marriage of Figaro, which will be performed Saturday, April 27 at 7pm and Sunday, April 28 at 3pm. As you know from class—and the syllabus—it’s expected that you will attend one of the two performances. With your student ID you can get a ticket for $10. Note that the student discount is only available at the box office, not online.
Before you attend the opera, please do two things. One: re-read the plot summary, which is included in the shared Google folder. You do not need to memorize minute details, but you should have a good sense of the opera’s plot more generally. The second thing to do before attending the Stony Brook production is to watch the most recent Metropolitan Opera production. You can do this either on- or off-campus, following these steps:
· Go to this site, which is all of the “m” databases accessible through the library.
· Click on “Met Opera on Demand”
· If you’re not on a campus computer, you’ll need to log in using your Net ID
· Once you’re at the Met’s “On Demand” site, scroll down to the Search field (in red), on the right-hand side. Enter in “Figaro.”
· You’ll then get the result “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Click on it.
· There are three videos there. Please choose the one from October 2014.
· Once you click “watch now” the controls should be clear. If you click “cc” you can turn on subtitles in several languages.
Several things about watching this Met production:
· Please note that only a limited number of Stony Brook people can use the Met’s On Demand site at once, so don’t put off watching this until the last minute; you may not always be able to get on the website, and the opera lasts over three hours.
· The 2014 video is one of the “Live in HD” performances, and as such there are a some backstage interviews that you may be interested in watching.
· However (!!!), one of those interviews is with James Levine, the conductor, who is very much canceled—for good reason. I really wish the Met had a video with a different conductor, but unfortunately they don’t. Please be forewarned before if you would watch that interview, and in general (since he will be shown conducting throughout). I’m asking you to watch this video for many reasons, but the conductor is not one of them.
As you watch the Met’s production, think about what scenes stick out for you, in a good or bad way. Are there moments you think are interesting, beautiful, profound, funny, or moving? What about moments that are merely silly or unbelievable or stilted? And how do you interpret the ending: does the Countess really forgive the Count in her heart of hearts?
You’re then ready to go the Stony Brook production. Remember to show up early, just to make sure you can find your seats, etc. And if you want to show up extra early, I’ll be giving a pre-performance lecture an hour before each performance.
After you watch the Stony Brook production, think back to the Met one. Did your opinion of the opera change? Are there moments you liked more in the Met one? more in the Stony Brook one? Dramatically, were there moments that were more (or less) believable in one production over the other? And what about the ending: did you interpret the Countess’s forgiveness differently in the Stony Brook production?
Feel free to comment on the musical performances in each production as well, though keep in mind of that the Met’s is by professionals at the top of the opera world, whereas the Stony Brook one is by students, albeit very good ones.
Finally, write a short paper (3-5 pages) in which you reflect on your experiences watching and listening to the two productions.
Please keep in mind the following guidelines:
You are not expected to consult any outside sources for this assignment; you may if you want, but then make sure that you cite them appropriately.
You are expected to edit your work thoroughly. This means no typos! Use spell-check. Have a friend proofread the paper. Shoddy editing is disrespectful to your readers, and will result in a lower grade.
All work should be composed in Times New Roman, 12 point, with double spacing and standard margins. This requirement is for your benefit, since it means that we’re grading your thoughts, and not your font choices.
Keep in mind that this course does not allow you to use Chat GPT or any kind of generative AI to create content. You may use it, however, to edit your own content, such as fixing spelling errors or helping with English. Submission of this paper to Brightspace will be understood as a “signed” statement that you have not used generative AI in an unauthorized way.
If you do use AI to help edit your paper, you must include the following as an addendum to your paper:
· What AI you used
· How you used AI
· An example of your use of AI. For instance, give a sample sentence as you wrote it, then that same sentence as it appears in your paper after having used AI.
Finally, if you do use AI, be prepared to provide more than just the one example of how you used it; we may ask for more evidence. To make sure you have this ready, if you’re asked, I recommend writing the paper as a Google doc with “version history” enabled to save all edits.