Giuseppe Verdi and Aida in the Egyptian Press : An Article Published in 1913

Grand Illusion

10.1093/oso/9780190915056.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gabriela Cruz

Keyword(s):

Karl Marx ◽

Walter Benjamin ◽

Richard Wagner ◽

Giuseppe Verdi ◽

Theodor Adorno ◽

Tristan Und Isolde ◽

Giacomo Meyerbeer ◽

History Of ◽

Grand Opera ◽

Philosophical Understanding

Grand Illusion is a new history of grand opera as an art of illusion facilitated by the introduction of gaslight illumination at the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris) in the 1820s. It contends that gas lighting and the technologies of illusion used in the theater after the 1820s spurred the development of a new lyrical art, attentive to the conditions of darkness and radiance, and inspired by the model of phantasmagoria. Karl Marx, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor Adorno have used the concept of phantasmagoria to arrive at a philosophical understanding of modern life as total spectacle, in which the appearance of things supplants their reality. The book argues that the Académie became an early laboratory for this historical process of commodification, for the transformation of opera into an audio-visual spectacle delivering dream-like images. It shows that this transformation began in Paris and then defined opera after the mid-century. In the hands of Giacomo Meyerbeer (Robert le diable, L’Africaine), Richard Wagner (Der fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, and Tristan und Isolde), and Giuseppe Verdi (Aida), opera became an expanded form of phantasmagoria.

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Postural Disorders in Conservatory Students: The Diesis Project

Medical Problems of Performing Artists ◽

10.21091/mppa.2014.1005 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 19-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

M Ramella ◽

F Fronte ◽

RM Converti

Keyword(s):

Negative Impact ◽

Giuseppe Verdi ◽

Professional Musicians ◽

Chi Square ◽

Regression Methods ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Conservatory Students ◽

Postural Disorders ◽

Associated Variables

Prolonged and incorrect postures are one of the main risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal pathologies. The aims of this study were to study the prevalence of incorrect postures among conservatory students; to identify if the use of an asymmetric instrument represents a risk factor for developing postural disorders; and to investigate whether a correlation exists between years of study, physical activity, and prevalence of postural disorders. METHODS: The subjects were recruited among students of the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Milano. All musical instruments were investigated and classified as asymmetric and symmetrical. The observed student posture was classified without instrument as “correct posture” or “postural disorder” and with an with instrument as “optimal posture” or “non-optimal posture.” While playing, the postural disorder was classified as “unchanged” or “increased.” The data were analyzed with chi-square and linear regression methods. RESULTS: Of the 148 conservatory students entered into the study, 66.2% had a postural disorder; 73.4% had a non-optimal posture, and playing an asymmetric instrument was the only variable associated (p=0.01). While playing, the postural disorder was increased in 59.2%; playing an asymmetric instrument (p=0.01) and years of practice (p=0.007) were the significantly associated variables. CONCLUSIONS: To play an asymmetric instrument exposes musicians to an increased risk of non-optimal postures and to a worsened postural disorder when present. Considering that the years of practice have an additional negative impact on postural disorders, further studies are needed to clarify the role of non-optimal postures in the development of musculoskeletal complaints among students and professional musicians.

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