Curtain, Gong, Steam: Wagnerian Technologies of Nineteenth-Century OperaIn this innovative book, Gundula Kreuzer argues for the foundational role of technologies in the conception, production, and study of nineteenth-century opera. She shows how composers increasingly incorporated novel audiovisual effects in their works and how the uses and meanings of the required apparatuses changed through the twentieth century, sometimes still resonating in stagings, performance art, and popular culture today. Focusing on devices (which she dubs “Wagnerian technologies”) intended to amalgamate opera’s various media while veiling their mechanics, Kreuzer offers a practical counternarrative to Wagner’s idealist theories of total illusionism. At the same time, Curtain, Gong, Steam’s multifaceted exploration of the three titular technologies repositions Wagner as catalyst more than inventor in the history of operatic production. With its broad chronological and geographical scope, this book deepens our understanding of the material and mechanical conditions of historical operatic practice as well as of individual works, both well known and obscure. |
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acoustic Anon artistic audience audiovisual Bayreuth became Berlin Berlioz Bühnentechnik century chapter chord clouds composers contemporary Cosima Wagner Das Rheingold Die Walküre diegetic dramatic drop scenes early Edited effects example Festspielhaus fire French German Gesamtkunstwerk gong gong strikes gong's Götterdämmerung grand opéra Grétry grotto ideal illusionist instance instrument Kunstwerk La vestale later Le prophète Lepage's machine magic material mechanical medium Meyerbeer Milan multimedia Munich music drama nature Nibelheim nineteenth nineteenth-century noise onstage opening curtain opera optical orchestral overture pantomime Paris Parsifal performance premiere production book prophète proscenium Puccini resonance Rheingold Richard Wagner Ricordi Ring cycle Robert le diable romantische Oper Rossini scene changes score sonic sound spectators Spontini stage directions stage technologies steam Stockhausen tam-tam Tannhäuser Tannhäuser's technical theater theatrical tion transformations translation vapors veil Venus Venusberg Venusberg scenes vision visual Wagner curtain Wagnerian Wagnerian technologies Walküre