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In-Class Discussion/Activity
Class discussion on Cyberculture and Survaillance to prepare to our field trip to the Opera: Two Boys at the Metropolitan Opera.
We will be going to see the Opera: Two Boys at the Metropolitan Opera Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue, between 63rd and 64th) at 8 pm.
Again, the performance begins at 8:00PM. You should arrive at 7.30PM in order to be in your seat by the time the performance starts.
A hauntingly beautiful and dramatically chilling work, Two Boys marked the “auspicious operatic debut” (London Independent) of composer Nico Muhly when the piece premiered at English National Opera in 2011. The opera explores the shadowy world of the Internet as a detective investigates the stabbing of one teenage boy by another—and discovers a tangled web of online intrigue. Loosely inspired by real events, director Bartlett Sher’s production includes striking video projections by 59 Productions (Satyagraha, The Enchanted Island), while Muhly’s score—featuring lyrical vocal writing and “shimmeringly ecstatic choruses” (London Telegraph) —“finds an exciting new musical language” (Wall Street Journal) to capture the mysterious realm of cyberspace.
Readings
Pierre Levy, Cyberculture: Electronic Mediations, excerpts.
Assignment (Due Tuesday, November 12).
Blog Writing Assignment #5: Response to the opera Two Boys. Give your opinion on whether or not you feel opera is an effective art form for audience of your generation. What aspect of the performance most interested you and why? Is this a suitable medium to explore the world of the Internet?
