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the highest form of art, namely the Greek theater has resonated in the literature. The Russian novelist Leo N. Tolstoy (1828-1910) labelled going to opera as »a complete nonsense and regrettable waste of time and money«. When Verdi was asked by a journalist if he, like Wagner, had a theory about the theatre, Verdi replied, »Yes.
Adaptability is the key word when referring to the social history of opera, its institutions, its protagonists, its sponsors, its audiences and publics.
against the dangers of opera as an art form. Boilieu, the absolute monarch of French classicism, issued a stern warning to a young man about the dangers of taking his
Even the New Grove’s opening definition of “opera” (“Most narrowly conceived, the word ‘opera’ signifies a drama in which the actors sing throughout…”) admits “so many” exceptions—Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Beethoven’s Fidelio would not be operas by this reckoning—as to force revision (“…the word should be more generically defined as a drama in which the ...
Dec 5, 2012 · One of the most often-quoted descriptions of opera is that of Dr Samuel Johnson, who famously defined opera in the mid-eighteenth century as ‘an exotic and irrational entertainment’. Johnson’s response to opera was at one with a prevailing English attitude of curmudgeonly roast-beef-and-ale xenophobia presented as bluff common sense, and was aimed primarily at Italian opera.
- Nicholas Till
- 2012
Volumes for Cambridge Studies in Opera explore the cultural, political and social influences of the genre. As a cultural art form, opera is not produced in a vacuum. Rather, it is influenced, whether directly or in more subtle ways, by its social and political environment. In turn, opera leaves its mark on society and contributes to
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Art and Rationality Doubtless the world of art has several rational characteristics. In the first part of my paper I will mention some specific features of artistic creativity which seem to me rational features. One of these I will discuss in some detail. I also want to argue, however, that art in modern culture has powerful irrational features ...
