Candide, Debussy or something else French

I took a few days off from blogging as, well, I didn't have all that much to share. But today I had a discussion with the French teacher here about finding ways to combine topics that I can teach in history & theory of music class with her French classes. She brought up doing something in French opera or maybe something a lot earlier like the troubadours and that history in French class and I can focus on the music aspect in my class. Leonard Bernstein did an opera on Candide, Debussy is a fantastic composer, and there's a lot else out there!

So, we'll see how that goes and if anything comes of it. I'm sure it's something that the administration would LOVE to see us do, and it's something that can be put on the website for good PR. I mentioned to Madame that the Delaware Opera has dress rehearsals open to students for educational opportunities and that the Marriage of Figaro is opening in May. Now, Figaro is actually written in Italian by an Austrian composer speaking German, but the story was from France just prior to the Revolution. I think it could be really neat to have my music and band students and some of the French students go see it, though it really wouldn't be too helpful since it will be sung in Italian. It's great music; if only the kids could sit through four hours of singing and dancing in a foreign language.