Opera (MUS 12)
Essay Assignment
Due Thursday, 9 March 2017 (no later than 12:40)
Write approximately 2 pages in response to question 1 and 2 pages in response to
question 2. Answers should be concise and to the point. Essays must be
formatted using 12-point font and double-spacing.
Assignments must be stapled and submitted in hard copy at the beginning of
lecture on the due date. They must also be submitted using Turnitin on TED by
5:00 PM on the same day. Be sure and submit both essays as one document
when uploading your work to TED.
Question 1:
Taking Deborah Voigt’s “little black dress” incident as the main focus of your essay,
discuss the issue of body image and appearance in opera. How have attitudes about
singers and their bodies changed over history? Include in your answer, discussion of
Alice Coote’s “Open Letter” (link is on TED) on the subject of voices vs. the visual in
opera.
Central to your answer will be a critical analysis of Voigt’s appearance on the Good
Morning America program. Compare her attitude in the interview to her later actions. In
addition, analyze the tv commercial aired prior to her return to the London’s Royal Opera
House following her weight loss surgery. Point out contradictions and “alternative facts”
in the ways in which the “little black dress” scandal are portrayed in this commercial.
You may need to do a brief internet search to fill in the timeline of events in support of
your answer.
Cite quotations and list all of your sources in a bibliography.
Primary Sources:
Deborah Voigt’s appearance on Good Morning America.

Television commercial for her return to London’s Royal Opera House.

Alice Coote’s “Open Letter”
Question 2: Drawing your examples from the works covered this quarter, give
an overview of the tensions between composers and singers across operatic
history. In your answer, you will want to address issues such as creative
authority and popularity, and the tensions surrounding the prominence of music
verses text in opera composition and performance.

Opera (MUS 12)
Essay Assignment
Due Thursday, 9 March 2017 (no later than 12:40)
Write approximately 2 pages in response to question 1 and 2 pages in response to
question 2. Answers should be concise and to the point. Essays must be
formatted using 12-point font and double-spacing.
Assignments must be stapled and submitted in hard copy at the beginning of
lecture on the due date. They must also be submitted using Turnitin on TED by
5:00 PM on the same day. Be sure and submit both essays as one document
when uploading your work to TED.
Question 1:
Taking Deborah Voigt’s “little black dress” incident as the main focus of your essay,
discuss the issue of body image and appearance in opera. How have attitudes about
singers and their bodies changed over history? Include in your answer, discussion of
Alice Coote’s “Open Letter” (link is on TED) on the subject of voices vs. the visual in
opera.
Central to your answer will be a critical analysis of Voigt’s appearance on the Good
Morning America program. Compare her attitude in the interview to her later actions. In
addition, analyze the tv commercial aired prior to her return to the London’s Royal Opera
House following her weight loss surgery. Point out contradictions and “alternative facts”
in the ways in which the “little black dress” scandal are portrayed in this commercial.
You may need to do a brief internet search to fill in the timeline of events in support of
your answer.
Cite quotations and list all of your sources in a bibliography.
Primary Sources:
Deborah Voigt’s appearance on Good Morning America.

Television commercial for her return to London’s Royal Opera House.

Alice Coote’s “Open Letter”
Question 2: Drawing your examples from the works covered this quarter, give
an overview of the tensions between composers and singers across operatic
history. In your answer, you will want to address issues such as creative
authority and popularity, and the tensions surrounding the prominence of music
verses text in opera composition and performance.