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    The operas of Michael Tippett : the inner values of Tippett as portrayed by selected female characters : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Music at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Jackson-Tretchikoff, Julie
    Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (1905-1998) was a British composer who wrote five operas. This dissertation explores the dramatic and musical presentation of five selected female characters, one from each of Tippett's operas: Sosostris (alto) The Midsummer Marriage (1955); Helen (mezzo-soprano) King Priam (1962); Denise (dramatic soprano) The Knot Garden (1970); Hannah (rich mezzo) The Ice Break (1977); Jo Ann (lyric soprano) New Year (1989). It is argued that each of the five selected characters portrays Tippett's inner values of humanitarianism, compassion, integrity and optimism. The dissertation focuses on certain key moments in each opera with an analysis of a central aria. Due to the writer's interest in the performance aspect of these operas, discussion centres on melody, the timbre of voice-types linked with instrumentation, rhythm, word-setting and the vexed question of Tippett's libretti.
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    Handel opera presentation, past and present : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2004) Tweedie, Shannon
    What differences, if any, exist between the performance of Handel opera during his lifetime, and contemporary performances? To what extent do these differences reflect the need to adapt Handel's operas when performed out of their original context, and how does knowledge of original performance practices enhance the singer's ability to interpret and present characters in performance? This study investigates the ideas outlined above, exploring the social and cultural environment of opera seria, its conventions, and the way in which Handel's operas were presented during his lifetime, later providing a comparison with contemporary productions. It aims to enhance understanding of the production and musical aspects of staging a Handel opera, and to illustrate how this knowledge can assist in performance.
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    'Poor, pale, Rusalka' : the polymorphic nature of the heroine of Dvořák's Rusalka : a thesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Musicology
    (Massey University, 2014) Brackovic, Jasna
    Rusalka, the protagonist of Antonín Dvořák’s eponymous opera, is probably one of the most unique operatic heroines. Rusalka’s burning desire to become human in order to be with one and have a soul takes her on an interesting, yet tragic journey. From water nymph to human to will-o-the-wisp, Rusalka goes through three different states and two metamorphoses that leave her desire unfulfilled and cause her to suffer continuously. The two metamorphoses cause Rusalka to remain between the natural and human worlds, both of which reject her. This in turn leads to her eternal suffering. Her tragic fate and constant agony portray her as a victim. And yet Rusalka is also a powerful character who is in command of her own story: as the opera’s sole protagonist, we are encouraged to identify with her perspective. She is constantly present throughout the opera. Even in the scenes that do not require her presence, she communicates with us through absence and through other characters that are, like us, influenced by her presence. And when Rusalka is silent, she connects with us through the language of orchestral music; her mute exterior on stage eludes us and seeks our understanding and sympathy. Thus, her powerful presence and the complexity of her nature draw us as the readers/listeners/spectators to experience Rusalka’s story through her subjective perspective. In order to reveal the nature of the character and how it affects us as readers/listeners/spectators, I will use various approaches, with an emphasis on psychological concepts that will provide a new insight into Rusalka and the opera as a whole. My research will also suggest the impact of fin-desiècle misogyny on Rusalka and specifically her silence, which is the perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the opera and its protagonist. The thesis will follow Rusalka’s journey, from the time and culture of its creation to modern times, as portrayed in some of the more recent dramatic productions that resituate these themes in light of more current perspectives. I will expose in turn the layers in Rusalka: from the libretto and the music, to the use of voice, and finally the playing with meaning in a few representative stage productions. In the second and third chapters, focusing on the libretto and music respectively, I discuss the ways Rusalka articulates her nature, using the Freudian structural model of the psyche for the analysis of the narrative and repetition in the libretto and music. The analysis of music also points toward repetition as a key method, and I suggest connections with the psychological concept of repetition, linked with desire and the death drive, as observed by Slavoj Žižek and Renata Salecl. In the fourth chapter, I focus on the voice, more specifically the cry, in order to explore the ways in which we experience the voice, which I believe is the central element that causes a painful enjoyment (jouissance) in some of us, and in turn is key to our sympathetic empathy with Rusalka. Finally, with Rusalka on stage, I explore the ways in which we, as audience, relate to Rusalka’s suffering, focusing mainly on her silent state. With the addition of the layer of the gaze, I focus on the spectators’ reaction to mute Rusalka and how, in a way, they participate in these moments of suffering precisely through the gaze. Throughout the thesis, I demonstrate how Rusalka communicates with us through the opera’s layers and how in return we respond to them, either by sympathising or identifying with the protagonist.
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    A night at the (imaginary) opera : the visual dimension in Hector Berlioz's Lélio, Roméo et Juliette, and La damnation de Faust : a thesis submitted to the New Zealand School of Music in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Musicology, New Zealand School of Music
    (Massey University, 2009) Moore, Frances Claire
    In keeping with the spirit of Romanticism, Hector Berlioz has always been something of a rogue figure. Works like Lelio, Romeo et Juliette and La damnation de Faust, which Daniel Albright refers to as 'semi-operas', occupy an uncomfortable place within the concert hall. The intersections between song, symphony, opera and the spoken word that form these works immediately pose questions concerning musical unity, narrative interpretation, issues of genre, and performance style. While the musical and literary aspects of the three compositions have been the subject of scholarly attention, this study turns its gaze onto the various visual dimensions that are present within Lelio, Romeo et Juliette and La damnation de Faust. By emphasising the presence of spectacle in Berlioz's compositions, questions soon arise concerning the implications of these visual elements for performance. Berlioz's relatively early work, Lelio, illustrates the extent to which the composer is already concerned with how the visual suppression of performing bodies can create and change narrative meanings. Romeo et Juliette raises the curtains that hide Lelio's musical forces. Rather than simply distilling Shakespeare's drama into music, Berlioz relies instead on a visual memory of Romeo and Juliet to replace the absence of physical characters within his 'symphonie dramatique', thus creating an aural rendition of a past theatrical event. Through an exploration of the spectacle within Lelio and Romeo et Juliette, we see how Berlioz has constructed a visually detailed imaginary theatre that resides within the score. An understanding of this imaginary theatre is integral in the subsequent analysis of Berlioz's controversial and wonderfully diabolical La damnation de Faust. This work is performed as often in the opera house as it is in the concert hall. However, an in-depth analysis of the libretto and score reveals curious and occasionally contradictory visual implications. The impact that these contradictions have on the visual dimension in the performance of La damnation de Faust will be explored through a reading of two ground-breaking productions: Raoul Gunsbourg's La damnation de Faust from 1893 - the first production to treat Berlioz's score as an opera; and Robert Lepage's mixed-media production of La damnation. The work of these two directors serves to highlight, perhaps inadvertently, the problematic effects of Berlioz's imaginary theatre on the necessarily more concrete realisations of La damnation when confined within the opera house. However, the cinematic approach of Lepage suggests another avenue of performance that has the potential to reveal new dimensions of Berlioz's unique dramatic-symphonic works. Ultimately, it may be that the supreme technicolour nature of Berlioz's music always functions to transport us beyond our own mundane experiences and forever challenges us to seek something beyond the limits of the possible, however much those limits might change.