In the United States, Italian, French, German, and English language operas are most often performed, both professionally and in collegiate settings; however, operas by Czech composers such as Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa, Věc Makropulos (The Makropulos Case), Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead), Bedřich Smetana’s Hubička (The Kiss), Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride), and Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka have been performed in major American opera houses over the course of the last decade. The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, the three largest companies in the country, have mounted Czech productions in previous seasons. Regional companies have delved into this new territory with positive outcomes, such as when the Opera Theatre of St. Louis staged Smetana’s The Kiss in 2013. The Juilliard Opera Center, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Arizona Opera, and many others have recently produced Czech operas, as well.
Czech opera receives little attention in collegiate voice programs, whether it be the study of the repertoire, the language, or its historical context. Since emphasis is largely placed on English, French, German, and Italian opera, it is reasonable that many voice teachers and vocal coaches may not have expertise in either the repertoire or the language, and as a result, so few selections are performed by young singers, much to their detriment.
This dissertation serves as a resource for singers, voice teachers, vocal coaches, and collaborative artists who wish to immerse themselves in Czech operatic repertoire for the soprano. Arias for this anthology have been chosen based on pedagogical considerations within the soprano Fach. Additional elements include brief biographical information about selected composers; synopses of the operas; a guide to explaining the basics of Czech diction (as well as its similarities and differences with English, German, French, Italian, and Russian), International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions of each aria, as well as literal and poetic translations of the text.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uiowa.edu/oai:ir.uiowa.edu:etd-7638 |
| Date | 01 May 2018 |
| Creators | T. Gougler, Kylie |
| Contributors | Muriello, John |
| Publisher | University of Iowa |
| Source Sets | University of Iowa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright © 2018 Kylie T. Gougler |
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