Opera in the development of German critical thought / Gloria Flaherty.
| Author/creator | Flaherty, Gloria |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | Princeton : Princeton University Press, ©1978. |
| Description | xi, 382 pages ; 23 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Ancient or modern. Quintessential theater ; Opera diabolica ; Epic versus dramatic -- Rule by precedent or by code. Saint Evremond and French neoclassicism ; Hamburg's tradition at the turn of the eighteenth century ; Feind's preference for English dramatic style -- Continuity and concession. Gottsched's attacks ; The dissidents ; Rationalistic reformers -- Tradition, transformation, and transition. Operatic imitation of nature ; Painted statues and lifelike wax figures ; Batteux's new code -- Interaction in Berlin at mid-century. Theatrical diversity ; Support for German opera ; The sphere of influence ; Dubos versus Batteus: Nicolai, Ramler, and Mendelssohn -- Lessings's consolidation. French, Italian, and English ; Laokoon and the essence of ancient theater ; Music in the Hamburg theater -- Assertion of cultural identity. Justus Möser on the achievements of the Germanic spirit ; Hermann and the bardic mode ; European contexts: the "romantic" operatic world -- Culmination and continuation: Wieland. Alceste ; Ideas on regenerating German opera ; Euripides, opera and the Abderites. |
| Abstract | "Although opera figured importantly in the French quarrel of the ancients versus the moderns and in the English discussions of heroic tragedy, it was in Germany that its role in the development of criticism and aesthetics and was most pronounced. Beginning with this observation Gloria Flaherty tries to show how, from its inception and through most of its history, opera was related not only to the revival of ancient drama and the evolution of modern theater but also to the development of modern critical thought. The author provides a comprehensive treatment of the writings both for and against the operatic forms' that dominated seventeenth- and eighteenth-century German theater. Included in her focus are the academic critics who denounced the failure of opera to comply with the universally valid standards of beauty and the rules of drama; the various Protestant clergymen who condemned opera's excessive emphasis on the senses and preached total abstinence; and the theatrical artists and patrons as well as the innumerable poets, philosophers, and writers who upheld the freedom to experiment and defend opera as a modern theatrical form with nearly unlimited artistic possibilities. As a result of these controversies, the defense of opera helped to shape a distinctively German vision of the classical ideal, enriched German criticism with new vocabulary, promoted the study of the performing arts, and emphasized music and spectacle as essential components of theater. By the end of the eighteenth century the premises and principles contained in operatic writings had permeated all branches of criticism and aesthetic theory."--Dust jacket. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliography (pages 335-363) and index. |
| LCCN | 78051163 |
| ISBN | 0691063702 : |
| ISBN | 9780691063706 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML1729.F6 O7 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |