The Operatic State examines the cultural, financial, and political investments that have gone into the maintenance of opera and opera houses in Europe, the USA and Australia. It analyses opera's nearly immutable form throughout wars, revolutions, and vast social changes throughout the world. Bereson argues that by legitimising the power of the state through universally recognised ceremonial ritual, opera enjoys a privileged status across three continents, often to the detriment of popular and indigenous art forms.
Author(s): Ruth Bereson
Edition: 1
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 240
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introducing the Power Brokers......Page 12
Princely Pleasures: Princes and Power The Birthplace of European Opera......Page 27
Of Kings and Barricades: From the Heart of Versailles to the Place de la Bastille......Page 45
The Disunited Kingdom: London's Operatic Battles......Page 74
Along the Danube and the Rhine: Playthings of the Austro-Hungarian and Prussian Empires......Page 109
The Jewel in the Crown Stronger and More Permanent than Ideologies: Why Opera was Retained by the Bolsheviks......Page 130
Magnificence of the Met The Commercial Fable: High Society, Corporations and State......Page 142
The Chip in the Harbour......Page 159
Other Operas Other Worlds......Page 181
Back to the Future?......Page 189
Notes......Page 197
Bibliography......Page 213
Index......Page 226
