Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The dissertation examines adaptations of Shakespearean plays in the operatic libretti of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), who dominated Italian opera in the second half of the nineteenth century. Although Verdi relied on the assistance of librettists with all his operas, he maintained scrupulous control over the textual details. The primary focus is on the triangle formed by Shakespeare, Verdi, and the librettist with considered attention to the ways in which a dramatic crux, or challenge, will both differ from and be cognate with an operatic crux. The monograph explores original Shakespearean sources, literary and musicological criticism, and the impact of historical circumstances on the genesis of Verdi's Shakespearean libretti. A brief biographical account of the composer is followed by a synopsis of the development of opera and an overview of the role of the librettist. It then addresses the distinguishing features of Shakespeare's writing that need to be considered when assessing adaptations of his plays into libretti. The second, third, and fourth parts of the study focus respectively on the three operas: Macbeth (1847) written with librettist Francesco Piave, Otello (1887), and Falstaff (1893), the latter two written with Arrigo Boito. Additional research includes new evidence regarding Verdi's unfinished Re Lear. The three complete operas are examined in close textual comparison with their original sources. Particular attention is given to the translations used in the libretti; textual and plot conformity; replication of rhyme and meter; diction and syntax; character portrayal and replication; and distinctions between dramatic and operatic settings. The study also compares different editions of the plays upon which the operas were based, as well as various editions of correspondence. The conclusion assesses Verdi's contribution to Shakespearean adaptation and the subsequent implications for the task of the librettist in creating a quality text that enhances, rather than detracts from, the composer's effort. / 2031-01-02

Gwen Harwood is one of Australia’s most celebrated poets. Her longstanding collaboration with composer Larry Sitsky produced six substantial operas between 1963 and 1982; Fall of the House of Usher (1965); Lenz (1970); Fiery Tales (1975, based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and excerpts from Boccaccio’s Decameron); Voices in Limbo (1977); The Golem (1980, first performed in 1993); and De Profundis (1982, a setting of Oscar Wilde’s letters). Both Harwood and her critics acknowledge the libretti as some of her best writing (Harwood cites her libretto for Lenz as her ‘selected poem’); to date, there has been no major study of these works. This thesis engages with Harwood’s opera texts, arguing for readings that are neither atomist nor reductive but jointly focused on both the effect of the text and the mechanics of its production. It begins by outlining the theoretical terrain of words and music studies and establishes an approach to Harwood and Sitsky’s operas based on the idea that opera’s textual exaggeration is a function of its multiple critical components; that is, the intersection of words and music, collaborative authorship, and dramatic language. The thesis then offers focused studies of each of these aspects in Harwood and Sitsky’s works, constructing a literary picture of the opera texts. Primary sources include the scores of the operas (usually copies of the composer’s autograph), selected correspondence between Sitsky and Harwood, drafts and typescripts of the libretti (held in the National Library, Canberra, and the Fryer Library, University of Queensland), and selected essays by Harwood on her words for music. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1331575 / Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2008

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