Haydn's Jews: Representation and Reception on the Operatic Stage - Softcover

Clark, Caryl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107404495 ISBN 13: 9781107404496

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2012

Synopsis

This fascinating study of ethnic theatrical representation provides original perspectives on the cultural milieu, compositional strategies and operatic legacy of Joseph Haydn. The portrayal of Jews changed markedly during the composer's lifetime. Before the Enlightenment, when Jews were treated as a people apart, physical infirmities and other markers of 'difference' were frequently caricatured on the comedic stage. However, when society began to debate the 'Jewish Question' - understood in the later eighteenth century as how best to integrate Jews into society as productive citizens - theatrical representations became more sympathetic. As Caryl Clark describes, Haydn had many opportunities to observe Jews in his working environments in Vienna and Eisenstadt, and incorporated Jewish stereotypes in two early works. An understanding of Haydn's evolving approach to ethnic representation on the stage provides deeper insight into the composer's iconic wit and humanity, and to the development of opera as a cultural art form across the centuries.

About this title

Review

'This is an important study, one that does its part to rehabilitate Haydn's image by stripping away the patina of geniality and na ve bumpkinry associated with 'Papa' to reveal a more human figure, complex and multifaceted in his contradictions. Haydn's Jews is a significant contribution to scholarship on the composer and his time.' Notes

Book Description

This fascinating study of ethnic theatrical representation provides original perspectives on the cultural milieu, compositional strategies and operatic legacy of Joseph Haydn. An understanding of Haydn's evolving approach to ethnic representation on the stage provides a deeper insight into the composer's iconic wit and humanity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1107404495
• ISBN 13: 9781107404496
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264