Overview

In this first monograph on E. T. A. Hoffmann and opera, Francien Markx examines Hoffmann’s writings on opera and the challenges they pose to established narratives of aesthetic autonomy, the search for a national opera, and Hoffmann’s biography. Markx discusses Hoffmann’s lifelong fascination with opera against the backdrop of eighteenth-century theater reform, the creation of national identity, contemporary performance practices and musical and aesthetic discourses as voiced by C. M. von Weber, A. W. Schlegel, Heine, and Wagner, among others. The book reconsiders the traditional view that German opera followed a deterministic trajectory toward Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk and reveals a cosmopolitan spirit in Hoffmann’s operatic vision, most notably exemplified by his controversial advocacy for Spontini in Berlin.

Full Product Details

Author:   Francien Markx
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   192
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 3.30cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.891kg
ISBN:  

9789004309562

ISBN 10:   900430956
Pages:   496
Publication Date:   06 November 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Prelude Prologue: German Musical Drama and the Emerging Public Sphere Hamburg – Leipzig – Weimar and Gotha – The National Theater Projects – Mannheim – Vienna – Berlin – E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Theatrical and Operatic Experiences – Evaluating Hoffmann’s Contribution(s) to Opera ACT I. NARRATING OPERA (CRITICISM) FOR THE ALLGEMEINE MUSIKALISCHE ZEITUNG (Berlin, Bamberg, Leipzig/Dresden, 1808-1814) Chapter One Ritter Gluck: On The Art of Judging Opera The Power of Anecdotes – Querelle des Gluckistes et des Piccinnistes. Christoph Willibald Gluck in the French Press – Gluck in the German Press – E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Views on Gluck – Ritter Gluck: A Response to Forkel – Narrating Gluck’s Public Image – Berlin: An Operatic Backwater – A Tale Illuminated by Music – Ritter Gluck: Towards a New Aesthetics of Opera Chapter Two Don Juan: Reflections on (Performing) Mozart’s Don Giovanni E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Don Juan and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s Don Giovanni – Contemporary Performance Practices – E. T. A. Hoffmann and Mozart’s Don Giovanni – Restaging Don Giovanni – Approaches to Mozart – Mozart’s Score and Donna Anna’s Secret – Reflections on Donna Anna’s Role - A Tale Inspired by Music Chapter Three Poet and Composer: Operatic Insights of an Insider Turbulent Times – The Dialogue Der Dichter und der Komponist – Theoretical Discourse: The Poet (A. W. Schlegel) and the Composer (E. T. A. Hoffmann) – How Not to Write a Libretto: Der Opern-Almanach des H[er]rn A. v[on] Kotzebue – Musical Practice – Der Dichter und der Komponist: A Program for Romantic Opera? – A Word to the Composer: Über einen Ausspruch Sachini’s – Der Dichter und der Komponist and the Future of German Opera – The Poet and the Composer: Hoffmann’s Own Creative Production ACT II. BACK IN BERLIN: BALANCING ACTS AS ARTIST AND CRITIC (1814-1822) Prelude: Brühl and the Berlin Theater Chapter Four ‘Patriotic Acts’: Undine on the Berlin Stage ossia Accomplishments of a Trio (Fouqué, Hoffmann, and Schinkel) Preparing the Stage – Fouqué’s Undine – The Staging of Hoffmann’s Undine – Voices of the Critics – Carl Maria von Weber’s Review of Undine for the AMZ – Weber and the German Ideal – Romantic Ideal versus Reality – Dénouement Chapter Five Berlin Reviews I: Dramaturgisches Wochenblatt and Vossische Zeitung Reviews of 1815 – Reviews of 1816 – Envisioning the Future: Visions of a Realist – Contributions for the Vossische Zeitung: Reviewing a Befriended Reviewer – Hoffmann’s Final DW Contribution: Die Kunstverwandten or the Joys and Sorrows of Producing an Opera – Art Beyond Boundaries: Towards a Universal Operatic Style Chapter Six Berlin Reviews II: Standing up for Spontini A Parisian in Berlin – Hoffmann’s Warm Welcome – Briefe über Tonkunst in Berlin. Erster Brief – Hoffmann’s Remaining Berlin Reviews – Zufällige Gedanken or Ritter Gluck Revisited – Spontini’s Opera Olimpie – Hoffmann’s Translation of Olimpie – Hoffmann’s Last Review: Nachträgliche Bemerkungen über Spontinis Oper Olympia – Further Observations on Hoffmann’s Last Review Chapter Seven Falling Silent: The Freischütz Controversy A Tumultuous Première – Contemporary Letters and Comments – ‘Made in Germany’ or An Opera’s Success Story – Reflections on Hoffmann’s Silence Postlude Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Francien Markx, Ph.D. (2003), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is Associate Professor of German at George Mason University. Her primary area of expertise is in the intersections of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century German literature, music, and theater, particularly opera and the lied.

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