Team 1: Italian Opera in Central Europe
27-29 November 1998, University of Oxford, United Kingdom:
EUROPEAN BAROQUE OPERA : INSTITUTIONS AND CEREMONIES
Group 1, " Italian Opera in Central Europe, 1614-c.1780" researches the migrations and development of Italian as a constitutive factor of change in European musical culture. The 1998 workshop will be the second held by the group ; the first (not financed by the ESF) was held in Innsbruck 20-21 Augsut 1996, on the theme of "Argia by Cesti - Innsbruck - Christine of Sweden". This was dedicated to a case study revealing patterns of change within a circumscribed set of cultural conditions.
The second workshop will be attended not only by the core group members but also by several invited participants (established and younger) offering complementary experiences. It is intended to discuss a large research theme in exemplary form, and to provide the outline of a book publication.The thematic field is further described as " Establishment, development and decline of operatic institutions in Europe, 1614-c.1780. Opera as a festive mirror of organised society".
The two subjects belong to the research areas of "Institutional history/Migration" and "Representation" which have been identified as research goals in several descriptions of the general programme. They are closely related : The establishment of opera houses and their personnel for the performance of Italian opera in cultural centres outside Italy (mainly the courts but increasingly the cities) was a striking phenomenon of 17th- and earlier 18th-century culture. The process of investing an Italian opera - as well as its reversal, the decline or disruption of these activities - reveal to us significant needs of entertainment, representation, social rivalry, secular and political aspirations, ritual and self-rationalisation in the social circles concerned.
The members of Study group 1 are all specialised in these subjects in their individual research, which is spread over a wide chronological span (1600-1800) and geographical area (from Warsaw to Barcelona and from Hamburg to Vienna). The workshop papers will present significant results fo this research for discussion by a circle of experts, and stimulate insights into the interconnectedness of these processes and mechanisms.
Participants
Invited participants will comprise the core group members plus a maximum of four specialists from outside the group, from adjacent fields or with complementary research interests. In addition, a maximum of six qualified younger scholars (two from Britain, four from other European countries) will be admitted by competition and on proposal by core group members.
Proposals will be accepted until 1st July 1998 at the latest.
Participants will present papers of not more than 30 mins duration. Discussion time per paper will be c. 10 mins.
Framework programme
A frameword programme for the workshop will illustrate research of the subject at Oxford and generally relate to "Europe Baroque Opera". It will comprise a concert performance of an Italian Baroque Opera known in other countries - Antonio Sartorio's "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" (1677) - by an Oxford-based ensemble, and one other musical event, probably at the Maison Française d'Oxford.
Organising institutions
The workshop is organised by Prof. Reinhard Strohm at the Faculty of Music, Oxford University, St Aldate's Oxford OX1 1DB
Faculty administrator
- HumairaErfan-AhmedE-Mail
- Faculty of MusicOxfordUnited Kingdom
