Harvard Online’s Most Terrifying Courses
Arts & Humanities • 4 min read
Individual Course
18th-Century Opera: Handel & Mozart
Course Length
5 weeks
3-5 hours a week
Featuring faculty from:
Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 209
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 209
Join Harvard University faculty in this online course and get to know the music of two beautiful operas—both in their spellbinding artistry and colorful histories.
In this breathtaking course, you'll get to know the music of two beautiful operas — both in their spellbindingartistry and colorful histories.
First, you'll travel to London in 1724, where George Frideric Handel premiered his most famous opera, Giulio Cesare. Meet the performers and experience what it was like to attend the first production, all while gaining an appreciation for the typical characteristics of Italian opera represented in this popular Baroque opera seria.
Then fast-forward 63 years to the Estates Theatre in Prague for the premiere of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s enduring classic, Don Giovanni. Learn about the challenges Mozart faced during the rehearsal process and the revolutionary relationship he created between music and drama in this opera.
Self-Guided
edX
- Learning Outcome
How performances of these works have changed since their premieres
- Learning Outcome
The basic structures of Baroque opera and Mozart’s techniques for representing characters through music
- Learning Outcome
How to compare the social and cultural contexts of the two premieres
- Learn from Harvard faculty
- Do it on your own time
- Get a certificate, add it to your resume
- Be part of the Harvard Community
Faculty
Your Instructor
Thomas Forrest Kelly
Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Harvard University
Thomas is the Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music at Harvard University. He received his B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill, and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary citizen of the city of Benvento, and a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Artes et Lettres of the French Republic.
Ways to take this course
Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate
A Verified Certificate costs $209 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.
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