Opera Appreciation Program

This program contains two distinct components. One component prepares participating UL residents for each of the live HD TV broadcasts by the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City to local movie theaters around the world including Ann Arbor, MI. During its 2011-2012 Season these live HD TV broadcasts will include the following eleven operas: Anna Bolena, Don Giovanni, Siegfried, Satyagraha, Rodelinda, Faust, The Enchanted Island, Götterdämmerung, Ernani, Manon, and La Traviata. Participating UL residents attend the live broadcasts at Quality 16 Theater, as well as a series of presentations, discussions of related DVDs (performance, feature and documentary films), and occasional guest lectures by UM faculty members offered in UL’s Cultural Center. A syllabus (Learning to Love Opera, 2011-2012) provides a detailed schedule and summary descriptions of materials. There is no textbook, although the syllabus recommends readings and CDs relevant to each Metropolitan Opera performance. The only pre-requisite for participation is the desire to enjoy opera. Dr. Richard Adelman (UL’s Director of University Relations and an Emeritus Professor of Biological Chemistry and Past Director of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan) presents the DVDs and leads the general discussions. These sessions occur primarily on Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00p, as well as occasional additional evenings, that precede the live HD TV broadcasts. This discussion series is expected to serve simultaneously for the third consecutive year as an official course co-sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan.

The second component of the Opera Appreciation Program is a summer opera film festival that devotes ten consecutive early evenings (excluding the weekend) of the summer to presentations and discussions of a specific annually selected operatic theme. The theme for August 2011 is An Audience-Friendly Wagnerian Ring Cycle. The fundamental objective of this year’s festival is to examine the four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle – Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung – from each of the following perspectives: 1) enjoyment of the music’s majesty; 2) analysis of the music’s ability to convey the conflict between the redeeming features of love and the corruption often associated with power; and 3) a relaxed and informal environment that fosters constructive and friendly discussion. A syllabus (Summer Opera Film Festival) provides a detailed schedule and summary descriptions of materials. A pre-requisite to participation is observation of the DVD, Wagner: The Complete Epic (Richard Burton, Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Lawrence Olivier; Directed by Tony Palmer; London Philharmonic Orchestra & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra & Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti; Kultur, 1983 / 2005 {8 hrs., 4 discs}). Dr. Richard Adelman presents the DVDs and leads the discussion sessions in UL’s Cultural Center. This discussion series is a new official course co-sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan.