Wagner's Ring Cycle and the Greeks

by Daniel H. Foster

• ISBN13: 9780521517393
• ISBN10: 0521517397
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-15
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Volumes for Cambridge Studies in Opera explore the cultural, political, and social influences of the genre. As a cultural art form, opera is not produced in a vacuum. Rather, it is influenced, whether directly or in more subtle ways, by its social and political environment. In turn, opera leaves its mark on society and contributes to shaping the cultural climate.

Table of Contents

List of musical examples	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xviii
Introduction	p. 1
Epic
Introduction: what is epic?	p. 33
Retrospective narrative and the epic process	p. 45
The orchestral narrator and elementary epic	p. 65
Spiritual and factual realities in epic	p. 83
Lyric
Introduction: what is lyric?	p. 111
Orpheus and lyric liberation	p. 122
First-person opera and lyric identity	p. 140
Lyric and the rebirth of tragedy	p. 157
Drama
Introduction: what is drama?	p. 183
Opera and tragedy	p. 197
Opera and comedy	p. 220
Resolution and ambiguity in comedy and tragedy	p. 235
Epilogue: Time, the Ring, and Performance Studies	p. 253
Appendices Wagner's primary and secondary sources	p. 267
Wagner's primary sources	p. 269
Secondary scholarship by authors Wagner knew personally	p. 276
Secondary scholarship by authors Wagner knew by reputation or by reading	p. 284
Notes	p. 295
Bibliography	p. 352
Index	p. 363
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.