Opera and Sovereignty: Transforming Myths in Eighteenth-Century ItalyPerformed throughout Europe during the 1700s, Italian heroic opera, or opera seria, was the century’s most significant musical art form, profoundly engaging such figures as Handel, Haydn, and Mozart. Opera and Sovereignty is the first book to address this genre as cultural history, arguing that eighteenth-century opera seria must be understood in light of the period’s social and political upheavals. Taking an anthropological approach to European music that’s as bold as it is unusual, Martha Feldman traces Italian opera’s shift from a mythical assertion of sovereignty, with its festive forms and rituals, to a dramatic vehicle that increasingly questioned absolute ideals. She situates these transformations against the backdrop of eighteenth-century Italian culture to show how opera seria both reflected and affected the struggles of rulers to maintain sovereignty in the face of a growing public sphere. In so doing, Feldman explains why the form had such great international success and how audience experiences of the period differed from ours today. Ambitiously interdisciplinary, Opera and Sovereignty will appeal not only to scholars of music and anthropology, but also to those interested in theater, dance, and the history of the Enlightenment. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 97
Page xiv
... . Dramatis personae in Zeno's and Metastasio's libretti for Temistocle 251 277 286 286 292 305 307 308 312 313 318 353 362 398 402 404 408 414 50 64 134 135 235 7.1. 9.1. 9.2. Singers in the two casts of Metastasio {xiv} Illustrations.
... . Dramatis personae in Zeno's and Metastasio's libretti for Temistocle 251 277 286 286 292 305 307 308 312 313 318 353 362 398 402 404 408 414 50 64 134 135 235 7.1. 9.1. 9.2. Singers in the two casts of Metastasio {xiv} Illustrations.
Page xv
... Singers in the two casts of Metastasio and Rust's Artaserse (Perugia, autumn 1781) 310 7.2. Contents and sources for Metastasio and Rust's Artaserse (Perugia, autumn 1781) 321–23 Operas performed at Teatro La Fenice, Venice, 1792–1800 ...
... Singers in the two casts of Metastasio and Rust's Artaserse (Perugia, autumn 1781) 310 7.2. Contents and sources for Metastasio and Rust's Artaserse (Perugia, autumn 1781) 321–23 Operas performed at Teatro La Fenice, Venice, 1792–1800 ...
Page 5
... singers were taking their curtain calls. In that time and space the two darlings of the stage—one many years beloved by the public, the other vaunted as its new star—could be relocated to a theatrical borderland at a climactic moment ...
... singers were taking their curtain calls. In that time and space the two darlings of the stage—one many years beloved by the public, the other vaunted as its new star—could be relocated to a theatrical borderland at a climactic moment ...
Page 9
... singers forbid it, so if the scene is pathetic the aria can't be more than of mezzo carattere. The fifteen arias of ... singer exit without an aria, after a scena di forza, and this too is against the rules. You have in your opera only ...
... singers forbid it, so if the scene is pathetic the aria can't be more than of mezzo carattere. The fifteen arias of ... singer exit without an aria, after a scena di forza, and this too is against the rules. You have in your opera only ...
Page 11
... singers, and still others fancied themselves eruditi who attended fiercely to every verse, note, and sight.16 With food, drinks, gambling, visiting, reading, cards, lotteries, games—sometimes even brawls—on top of listening, watching ...
... singers, and still others fancied themselves eruditi who attended fiercely to every verse, note, and sight.16 With food, drinks, gambling, visiting, reading, cards, lotteries, games—sometimes even brawls—on top of listening, watching ...
Contents
1 | |
form feeling exchange | 42 |
first case study | 97 |
4 Festivity and Time | 141 |
second case study | 188 |
6 Myths of sovereignty | 226 |
third case study | 284 |
8 Morals and malcontents | 348 |
fourth case study | 389 |
Epilogue | 437 |
References | 443 |
Index | 493 |
Other editions - View all
Opera and Sovereignty: Transforming Myths in Eighteenth-Century Italy Martha Feldman Limited preview - 2007 |
Opera and Sovereignty: Transforming Myths in Eighteenth-Century Italy Martha Feldman No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
absolutist action already appears aria Artaserse audience ballets boxes cadenzas called Carnival castrato century changes chap character claimed collective composer continued court dramma early eighteenth eighteenth-century especially example expression Fenice festivity figure final French give given hand Ippolito Italian Italy kind king later least less letter libretto light listeners means Metastasio monarch moral myth Naples nature nobles notes opening opera seria Opere original Parma passions performance person Perugia played political practice production recitative reform rhetorical ritual Roman Rome royal San Carlo scene score season sense singers singing social soprano sovereign sovereignty spectacle stage subjects symbolic Teatro theater tion traditional turn various Venetian Venice voice whole women
References to this book
The Triumph of Pleasure: Louis XIV and the Politics of Spectacle Georgia Cowart Limited preview - 2008 |