Beyond the libretto

Nowadays both intra- and interlingual surtitles are an inherent element of almost all opera produc­tions and, partly thanks to this technology, opera is now going through a renaissance. The trend of staging operas in a modernised fashion is especially popular these days, but it represents a particu­lar challenge for surtitlers. It is argued in this article that while surtitles accompanying traditional opera productions are usually intrasemiotic, as their source text is just the libretto, modernised productions often have intersemiotic surtitles. The article analyses fragments of surtitles prepared for four different operas staged in the Metropolitan Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper and Royal Opera House. The result show that while traditionally surtitles provide the viewers with the mean­ing of the libretto, the role of intersemiotic surtitles is much more extended, as they provide the audience with more comprehensive information about the whole opera production.

The specificity of the interpretation of Rodelinda’s pa rt from G. Handel’s opera “Rodelinda”: interpretological approa

Statement of the problem. Among the questions that arise, let us single out those that will form the basis of the proposed article devoted to women’s parts in the opera “Rodelinda”: HIP traditions and staging strategies; vocal roles and their possible modifications / transformations under the conditions of specific directing and performing solutions. Analysis of recent scientific publications shows that ‘Handeliana’ is currently very voluminous. Thus, the works of W. Dean (1969), J. Knapp (2009) and C. Hogwood (2007), which have been republished several times, are considered thoroughly; L. Silke (2014) summarized the experience of predecessors and presented new dimensions of scientific understanding of Handel’s legacy. Fundamental are the studies by L. Kirillina (2019). The problem of performing vocal music of the Baroque era has been actively discussed in the works of I. Fedoseev (1996), N. Harnoncourt (2002), G. Kaganov (2013), M. Burden (2009), A. Jones (2006), О. Kruglova (2007), G. Konson & I. Konson (2020). The purpose of the article is to single out the main parameters of the baroque performance of women’s parts in G.F. Handel’s opera “Rodelinda” taking into account the performing traditions and modern trends. The research methodology is focused on the concept of “authentic performing strategy” (Yu. Nikolaievska, 2020), positions of comparative interpretology (Ch. Zhiwei, 2012) and interpretative approach, aimed at studying the specifics of the performance versions. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the application of an interpretive approach to the study of G. F. Handel’s operas. Results. In the 1938 recording (conducted by G. Leonhard), Rodelinda was performed by the famous Cecile Reich, in 1959, 1973 – by Joan Sutherland (in London and Netherlands productions). Closer to the authentic versions is the one performed by Sophie Danneman (1996); there is also a famous recording of 2005 with Rene Fleming (Metropolitan Opera), who was brilliant as an actress (which is required by the plot), but she admired and “played” her voice a little, which does not quite correspond to the principles of authenticity. One of the stars of the Glyndebourne Festival (1998) was the performer of Rodelinda’s part – Anna Caterina Antonacci, who performed her part with the necessary psychological and vocal accents, but, perhaps, somewhat dry and removed, which is why the listener is also removed from the heroine’s tragedy. In 2011 N. Harnoncourt recorded “Rodelinda” (in the title role – Danielle de Niese, who owns the entire arsenal of means inherent in baroque performance). Lauren Woods (recording of the 2016) is one of the most famous performers of the baroque repertoire. Critics have noted her perfect articulation, acting ability and “impressive vocals”. Simone Kermes, who critics call “the mad queen of the Baroque”, is distinguished by bright and temperamental performance, especially incomparable in the interpretation of baroque operas. Conclusions. From the interpretive point of view, mastering the expressive system of Baroque vocal performance traditions, in particular the art of vocal improvisation and ornamentation, consistent with the artistic context and directorial decision, can broadcast for the modern listener the affects and meanings of Handel’s music. The established features of baroque style are marked (affect, which is usually concentrated in such positions as tempo-rhythm, tonality, text, syntax of the melody) and performance (timbre, dynamics, intonation of the melodic line, ornamentation). Rodelinda’s part has been shown to require the ability to switch from one affect to another fairly quickly. In the analyzed interpretations, modern singers (D. de Nies, J. Sutherland, S. Kermez, L. Woods, A. K. Antonacci) practically do not allow themselves to be free, but seek to follow the principles of authentic performance, which is manifested in dynamic, agogic elements, various timbre colors arias (aria of revenge, duet-consent, aria of lamento), the ability to improvise.

The Circumstances of Colour: The Jim Crow Translation of Jonny spielt auf

This article examines the American premiere of the German opera Jonny spielt auf as a form of what I call Jim Crow translation. As originally written and composed by Ernst Krenek, the opera centres on Jonny, a Black jazz musician, who disorders the logic of European cultural superiority. Although thoroughly modern in its original German staging, using stereophonic radios and film projectors, Krenek’s appropriation of Blackness relied on blackface baritones to play Jonny. When the opera came to New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the history of minstrelsy and the legal system of Jim Crow haunted the production. While Jonny was depicted as thoroughly cosmopolitan and modern in Krenek’s conception of the opera, the American production, under the management of Giulio Gatti-Casazza, attempted to turn Jonny into a white vaudevillian in blackface, a publicity stunt that brought the opera further attention under the guise of protecting American morals against a narrative of interracial sexual desire. Though Krenek created an opera based on the value of Black modernity, Gatti-Casazza displayed American racial anxieties through the opera’s promotion. The proposed revisions to the text, through which racialist regimes demonstrated their power over cultural production, reflect the role that translation can play in reinforcing the colour line.

What Not To Wear At The Opera: Outfitting Sociability At The Met

This research project proposes that fashion performs a critical role in the perpetuation of class hierarchies in American opera audiences. Dress is used by opera patrons as a mode of expressing their economic, social, and cultural capital, thereby affirming their status within society. The Metropolitan Opera house, opened in New York City in 1883, was built intentionally to create a space for the New York elite class to socialize, incorporating architectural features that reflected the power dynamics of New York society, effectively prioritizing sociability over musical integrity. This study is supported by analysis of early Vogue magazine articles that directly contributed to the formation of the opera as a pursuit for the upper-class; as well as a critical investigation of photographs drawn from the Met archive revealing the ways in which fashion at the Met performs economic and social power.. Ultimately, this project uses dress to examine the embedded class hierarchies that sustain an elite, exclusive audience for opera in America; indeed, the study shows that the combination of opera and fashion created class cohesion through mutually acknowledged cultural literacy in New York City.

What Not To Wear At The Opera: Outfitting Sociability At The Met

This research project proposes that fashion performs a critical role in the perpetuation of class hierarchies in American opera audiences. Dress is used by opera patrons as a mode of expressing their economic, social, and cultural capital, thereby affirming their status within society. The Metropolitan Opera house, opened in New York City in 1883, was built intentionally to create a space for the New York elite class to socialize, incorporating architectural features that reflected the power dynamics of New York society, effectively prioritizing sociability over musical integrity. This study is supported by analysis of early Vogue magazine articles that directly contributed to the formation of the opera as a pursuit for the upper-class; as well as a critical investigation of photographs drawn from the Met archive revealing the ways in which fashion at the Met performs economic and social power.. Ultimately, this project uses dress to examine the embedded class hierarchies that sustain an elite, exclusive audience for opera in America; indeed, the study shows that the combination of opera and fashion created class cohesion through mutually acknowledged cultural literacy in New York City.

МИСТЕЦЬКА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ АДАМА ДІДУРА В КОНТЕКСТІ СВІТОВОЇ ТА ВІТЧИЗНЯНОЇ МУЗИЧНОЇ КУЛЬТУРИ

Висвітлено багатогранну художню діяльність співака польського походження, вихідця з Галичини Адама Дідура, який був одним із найвидатніших оперних виконавців на межі ХІХ–ХХ століть. Відзначено, що упродовж тривалого часу він жив і творив на теренах Західної України та здійснив значний внесок у становлення і розвиток її музичної культури і освіти як блискучий виконавець, режисер та педагог. Представлено панораму творчих досягнень А. Дідура у сфері оперного виконавства як провідного співака, запрошеного до кращих світових театрів, серед яких «La Scala» (Мілан) та «Metropolitan Opera» (Нью-Йорк).

A Wagnerian Battle for Souls: Parsifal and the Crisis in American Protestantism, 1882–1904

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Richard Wagner's Parsifal in December 1903 stirred what was arguably the first American religious controversy over an artistic event to claim national attention in the twentieth century. Although the outcome was predictable – the protests appeared only to fuel box office success – the significance lies in what this controversy reveals about the music drama's most ardent opponents and supporters at a key moment in American religious history. The 1903 Parsifal controversy unfolded in the midst of a crisis in American Protestantism, as conservative establishment Protestants defended their weakening hold on American culture, and their theologically liberal brethren viewed that same culture as both a source of spiritual inspiration and a cause for redemption. Drawing primarily upon accounts published in the New York press, nationally circulated periodicals (including strongly partisan contributions to the debate by The Musical Courier), and the writings of several prominent Protestant clergy and lay leaders, this reception study argues that the religious controversy surrounding the 1903 Parsifal production was a substantive skirmish in this American Protestant crisis, and brought forward competing interpretations of the music drama which highlighted the cultural implications of what had been, until that point, largely a theological dispute. Conservative response fastened onto elements of the drama found to be sacrilegious, while liberal response was conditioned by its kinship to the nineteenth-century phenomenon of Kunstreligion, and a broad view of redemption that extended beyond the individual soul to the artwork and the artist, and to all of culture.