The staging of history in France: Characterizations of historical figures in French Grand Opera during the reign of Louis -Philippe.

Item

Title
The staging of history in France: Characterizations of historical figures in French Grand Opera during the reign of Louis -Philippe.
Identifier
AAI3169966
identifier
3169966
Creator
Pottinger, Mark Ainsworth.
Contributor
Adviser: Ora Frishberg Saloman
Date
2005
Language
English
Publisher
City University of New York.
Subject
Music | History, European | Theater
Abstract
This dissertation discusses the relationship between the writing of history and opera during the second quarter of the nineteenth century, in particular French grand opera of the 1830s and 1840s. The height of grand opera occurred in the years between the rise (1830) and fall (1848) of the July Monarchy, when the revolutionary idealism of the age meshed with the fervent intellectual and artistic activity of composers, librettists, and stage designers in France. The characterizations of historical individuals in four works that premiered between 1830 and 1850 are examined as evidence of this historical sensibility: Daniel Auber's Gustave III (1833), Louis Niedermeyer's Stradella (1837), Fromental Halevy's La Reine de Chypre (1841), and Giacomo Meyerbeer's Le Prophete (1849). The choice of these four works was determined primarily by the date of the premiere and the diverse social positions of the historical figures, so that the works present a comprehensive study of the use of history throughout the period.
Type
dissertation
Source
PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
degree
Ph.D.