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Disciplines: Philosophy; Political Theory; Art & Art History; Performing Arts
Themes: Opera, Politics, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Performing Arts
Admission requirements
This course is an (extracurricular) Master Honours Class aimed at talented Master’s students. Admission will be based on academic background, GPA and motivation.
Description
This course provides a unique and engaging opportunity to discover Opera, and think about the relation between arts and societal questions. We’ll focus on the relationship between philosophy, opera and politics. One piece will be explored in depth: Nozze di Figaro, by Mozart. Students will attend a performance at the National Opera.
Your classmates will be young singers - MA students at the Dutch National Opera Academy (DNOA), with whom you’ll get to work on aria’s, characters and interpretation. We’ll have lectures by and discussion with leading professionals in the Opera world. You’ll have the opportunity to engage with stage-directors, conductors, composers, singers and dramaturgs, besides of course academic experts on the political and philosophical side of art. The course will end with a festive recital, at which the DNOA students will perform, showcasing the roles and aria’s we’ll have studied.
At first sight, it is sometimes hard to take opera seriously. But once we accept that people on stage sing instead of talk, there is a wealth to discover. Opera, perhaps more so than any other form of art, is deeply intertwined with philosophy and politics. Think of Wagner’s relationship with Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, or Verdi’s role in Italian unification. Or the riots which broke out during an opera about people suffering from foreign oppression at De Munt in Brussels, which led to Belgian independence.
Composers and librettists emphasized social issues they saw in their own environments. Sometimes indirectly, the censors wouldn’t allow politically risky performances. But these works still speak to us today. This is true when they are performed in classical setting, and when re-imagined by stage directors. Not just because these works are often incredibly beautiful and touching – although there is also that. Often, the social issues they address simply persist, the ideas at stake still puzzle us, and the problems driving the action are a universal part of the human condition. Political authority, redemption, misogyny, trauma, xenophobia, power, betrayal, love, sex, freedom, equality, social exclusion are explored through a combination of words, music, the human voice, acting, staging and a large orchestra. This allows for a range of expression and depth that is hard to match.
The first part of the course lays the foundations. What is opera, and how does it express political and philosophical ideas. For example, questions around equality, power and class or gender differences (which all play a central role in Nozze di Figaro). We’ll also think about problematic pieces and performance practices – think of black-face in Otello and Aida or orientalism and sexism in Turandot. We’ll critically reflect on the composition of the (male-dominated) operatic canon, and what this tells us about the politics of opera now.
The second part of the course turns to opera as a practice, and we’ll dive deeper into one particular piece: Nozze di Figaro. We’ll study this opera and the ideas it revolves around, and we’ll invite speakers from the dramaturgy department or stage direction of the national opera, a conductor/composer, and singers to reflect the relationship between their work on the piece and social/political ideas. We’ll attend a rehearsal of the opera at the Dutch National Opera.
The final assignment is made in groups. Leiden students will work with singers from the Opera Academy on a character. They’ll consider what happens to that character in a particular aria (emotionally, socially, politically). We’ll end the course with a recital (with the DNOA) in which students introduce the aria briefly. A longer written version of that introduction will have to be submitted.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
be able to critically reflect on the role of the arts in society;
be able to analyse interpretations, and interpret, political and philosophical ideas in opera;
be able to critically reflect on performance practices and the composition of classical canon;
develop skills to put views about arts into words;
see how art mirrors and engages with social and existential issues;
be able to engage, cooperate and find a common language with people with a background in other disciplines.
Programme and Timetable
The sessions of this course will take place on the following Wednesdays from 17.15 - 19.00 (provisional schedule) with the exception of the final meeting, which will take place on Friday, May 15, 2026.
Session 1: March 4, 2026
Why Opera?
by guest lecturer Shiru Lim (History)
Session 2: March 11, 2026
Politics and Opera
guest lecturer: TBA
Break from classes: students start independent group work.
Session 3: April 1, 2026
Politics in Opera
by guest lecturer Susanna Lindberg (Philosophy)
Session 4: April 8, 2026
TBA
Session 5: April 15, 2026
Staging and performing Nozze di Figaro
by guest lecturer Siobhan Stagg (Soprano)
Session 6: April 22, 2026
Ideas and Music in Nozze di Figaro
by guest lecturer Leonard Evers (Conductor & Composer)
Session 7: April 24 (Thursday)
Debrief & Discuss
by Wout van Tongeren (Dramaturgy, Dutch National Opera )
Session 8: May 6, 2026 (18.00 - 22.00)
To the opera! Pre-dress rehearsal of Nozze di Figaro (TBC)
visit to the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam
Session 9: May 15, 2026** (Friday: 19.30 - 22.00)
THE RECITAL
at the Piano Store Emile van Leenen, Leiden
Location
Lipsius building 1.52
Course load
This course is worth 3 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 84 hours:
Seminars: 7 seminars of 2 hours (14 hours) participation is mandatory
Excursion: 1 excursions (6 hours)
Literature reading and seminar preparation (e.g. watching an opera): 4 hours per session (32 hours)
Assignments & final performance: 32 hours
Assessment
This course is pass/fail. In order to pass the course, the student has to perform to acceptable level on the following elements:
Active participation is required to pass this course.
Attendance is required. One class can be skipped without consequences, further absence to be discussed with the teacher.
For each meeting, students will be asked to do a short assignment (not always written).
Students need to pass the final group assignment (to work, with a singer, on a particular character/role in an opera). The written product needs to be a pass. The deadline for the short final report will be mid-May.
Students could only pass this course after successful completion of all partial exams.
Reading list
We’ll read texts about opera, politics and philosophy. Examples of texts we might engage with are Martha Nussbaum’s discussion of love in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro.
Other possible literature will be announced in class or via Brightspace.
Brightspace and uSis
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Master Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Registration
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday, 2 February until and including Sunday, 22 February 2026 through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Master Honours Challenges in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact
Tim Meijers: t.meijers@phil.leidenuniv.nl