Tag Archives: opera

How a Wagnerian performance distributes the sensible and controls access to it

This is an attempt to think the performance of Richard Wagner’s operas in terms of Rancière’s aesthetics. According to Jacques Rancière, the distribution of the sensible is “a generally implicit law that defines the forms of partaking by first defining … Continue reading

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Rethinking operatic drama

Today’s pre-eminent opera duo, (German) Jonas Kaufmann and (Greek-German) Anja Harteros, have been inspiring us to rethink operatic drama. DON CARLO: last duet AIDA: “La Fatal Pietra” OTELLO: “Già nella notte densa” LA FORZA DEL DESTINO: act I, 3rd scene IL … Continue reading

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Artists on the operatic stage

Since it aspires to incorporate all the arts, traditionally opera has not presented musicians and painters on the stage, a device that would require adding to the work yet another artistic layer.  Hence their rare appearances.  However, it seems that, … Continue reading

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The imperial destiny of the Trojans

The goddess of my life, Artemis Leontis, and I made sure last month to catch one of only five performances of Berlioz’s epic Les Troyens (1856-58) in a fittingly grandiose new production at the Lyric Opera. I have been exploring … Continue reading

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