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Said on Opera
0231212011 pdf One of the late twentieth centurys most celebrated and influential public intellectuals, Edward W. Said was also a critic of astonishing range. This book presents his insightful and elegant analyses of four major operasoriginally delivered as the Empson Lectures at Cambridge University in 1997showcasing the power of Saids critical acumen to unsettle canonical interpretations. In close readings of Mozarts Cos fan tutte, Beethovens Fidelio, Berliozs Les Troyens, and Wagners Die Meistersinger von Nrnberg, Said explores how each opera engages with the social and political questions of their own erasand how they might speak to the present. He pays careful attention to the works historical context as well as the possibilities they open for contemporary reinterpretations, examining the tension between operas cultural prestige and its potential for subversion. Said considers the representation of national identity, class, and exoticism, and he shows how cultural and literary studies can enrich understandings of operatic texts and performance. Lucid and gracefully written, Read more