First, read Bonnie Gordon’s 2019 NYT article about Barbara Strozzi. This does an

First, read Bonnie Gordon’s 2019 NYT article about Barbara Strozzi. This does an excellent job of introducing us to Strozzi, her music, and her career as a singer and composer in the male-dominated world of the arts in seventeenth-century Venice. Then, listen to Lagrime Mie (link to recording attached).
Next, read the introduction from Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker’s “A History of Opera.”(attached).
After you’ve finished going through the Abbate/Parker reading, please watch the video of Dido’s Lament (attached).
PICK ONE OF THE QUESIONS BELOW ONLY AND WRITE ABOUT IT:
1 How are modern operatic performances different from earlier ones?
2 How do these laments convey tragedy/sadness?
3 What was remarkable about Barbara Srozzi’s career?
4 What are the differences between recitative and aria, and why were these useful for opera composers and audiences?
5 What makes opera unique (or not)?