Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | N | Notes

Unsettling Opera: Staging Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Zeminsky.

Article Excerpt
Unsettling Opera: Staging Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Zeminsky. By David J. Levin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. [xix, 254 p. ISBN-10 0226475220; ISBN-13 9780226475226. $35.] Illustrations, index.

In Unsettling Opera: Singing Mazart, Verdi., Wagner and Zeminsky, David Levin has undertaken the task of explaining and justifying less than traditional approaches to operatic production and direction. Whether the opera goer is enthralled or appalled by what in some circles is referred to as "Euro-trash" and other non-traditional productions, it is a fact of operatic life. This is true more so in Europe than in the United States, but it must be remembered that although the (in)famous Peter Sellars productions of the three great Mozart comedies were video recorded in Europe, the original concept was originated and produced in the United States. Levin's basic premise is that with careful reading of the text and other source material nearly any approach to a work can be justified. To this end he looks at productions of four standard repertory operas and one that is very much on the periphery. Levin does not ignore traditional approaches altogether and does allow that there is a place for a...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!