There is an increasing interest in the operas of Georg Frideric Handel,
both from a scholarly perspective, and that of the modern, professional opera
company. Producers of Handelian opera have moved away from productions
similar to those staged in Halle, Germany, in the 1920s, which featured vastly
reduced recitative and stripped the da capo aria to a single statement of the 'A'
section. Modern productions have restored Handel's musical text, and in
addition have attempted to recreate the original dramatic conditions and
ethos of the work. The problem faced by the Halle producers still exists,
however. How does the modern producer satisfy the expectations of the
modern audience, while remaining faithful to the intention of the composer
and the original production.
This paper will investigate a possible approach to staging Handelian
opera, with specific reference to the 'Mad Scene' from Handel's opera
Orlando. Included in this examination will be a discussion of eighteenth-century
British staging practices. These elements will be considered in the
light of stage design and scenic practices of the period.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/10009 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Spencer, Reid Donald |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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