Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Introduction
- Part I The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
- Part II The nineteenth century
- Chapter 7 Romanticism and Romantic opera in Germany
- Chapter 8 Opera in nineteenth-century Italy
- Chapter 9 Grand opéra and the visual language of opera
- Chapter 10 The Wagnerian revolution
- Chapter 11 Nationalists: vernacular language and music
- Chapter 12 The role of the singer
- Part III The twentieth and twenty-first centuries
- Appendix 1 Motifs from The Ring used in Chapter 10
- Appendix 2 The development of singing voices in opera
- Appendix 3 The development of lyric theatre alternatives to ‘opera’
- Appendix 4 Some major operas and artistic and political events of the twentieth century, 1899--2008
- Glossary of key terms
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 10 - The Wagnerian revolution
from Part II - The nineteenth century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Introduction
- Part I The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
- Part II The nineteenth century
- Chapter 7 Romanticism and Romantic opera in Germany
- Chapter 8 Opera in nineteenth-century Italy
- Chapter 9 Grand opéra and the visual language of opera
- Chapter 10 The Wagnerian revolution
- Chapter 11 Nationalists: vernacular language and music
- Chapter 12 The role of the singer
- Part III The twentieth and twenty-first centuries
- Appendix 1 Motifs from The Ring used in Chapter 10
- Appendix 2 The development of singing voices in opera
- Appendix 3 The development of lyric theatre alternatives to ‘opera’
- Appendix 4 Some major operas and artistic and political events of the twentieth century, 1899--2008
- Glossary of key terms
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Wagner changed opera in terms of its musical form and overall content, as well as how it was perceived – its aesthetic and social function. He was in a position to effect this because of his unique combination of musical, technical, dramatic and philosophical concerns which were expressed in
opera;
innovative involvement in all aspectsd of production and direction;
theoretical writings.
He was, of course, influence by previous composers and thinkers, but what made him so influential was the force with which one person so successfully drew it all together. This turned Wagner into a kind of nineteenth-century hero, struggling to save and redirect art – as he portrayed himself, in figures such as Tannhäuser and Walther von Stolzing. The sheer range of interests in itself created a new ethos for evaluating a form that had become increasingly socialite, redefining it as a serious dramatic art, aimed at engaging the audience in moral, political and aesthetic ideas.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Opera , pp. 194 - 217Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012