Opera as News: "Nixon in China" and the Contemporary Operatic Subject.
Since the eighteenth century, "historical" operas have puzzled and delighted audiences. But what counts as "history" in opera? This essay argues that one answer lies in opera's complex relation not only to facticity but to temporality; whereas all operas move forward theatrically within a complex un...
| Publicado en: | University of Toronto Quarterly Vol. 81; no. 4; pp. 805 - 824 |
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| Formato: | Essay |
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University of Toronto Press
Fall2012
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=83183826&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 83183826 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00420247 UTQ jtl: University of Toronto Quarterly issn: 00420247 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Fall2012 vid: 81 iid: 4 pid: 678 pub: University of Toronto Press artinfo: ui: 83183826 10.3138/UTQ.81.4.805 ppf: 805 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 322KB tig: atl: Opera as News: "Nixon in China" and the Contemporary Operatic Subject. aug: au: Germano, William affil: Professor of English Literature, Cooper Union Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cooper Union su: History in opera Opera & history Adams, John, 1947- Goodman, Alice Nixon in China (Music) Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994 sug: subj: History in opera Opera & history Adams, John, 1947- Goodman, Alice Nixon in China (Music) Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994 keyword: history John Adams Nixon opera temporality ab: Since the eighteenth century, "historical" operas have puzzled and delighted audiences. But what counts as "history" in opera? This essay argues that one answer lies in opera's complex relation not only to facticity but to temporality; whereas all operas move forward theatrically within a complex understanding of time, operas on historical subjects raise that temporal complexity to a higher pitch. Drawing on the history of opera since the reforms of the eighteenth century, this essay examines John Adams's 1987 "Nixon in China." That work presents—and mythologizes—one of the most arresting diplomatic events of the post-World War II era, Richard Nixon's 1972 Beijing meeting with China's political leaders. Alice Goodman's libretto, at once lyric and formal, and Adams's propulsive writing together demonstrate that in opera, history is one clock among many. In doing so, "Nixon in China" allows us to rethink the terms on which history becomes opera's subject. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Essay src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of University of Toronto Quarterly is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: University of Toronto Quarterly holder: University of Toronto Press dt: @attributes: year: 2012 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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