Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"It is often authoritative and comprehensive; it is especially well informed on the origins of the libretto, Maeterlinck's philosophical and literary influences, and the collaborative processes between the playwright, the composer Paul Dukas, and the singer Georgette Leblanc. The tables of recordings, performances, and so on render this book an invaluable tool for researchers."—Laura Watson, author of Paul Dukas: Composer and Critic
"This is as thorough an examination of Ariane et Barbe-bleue, in all its aspects, as one is likely to see. Generous appendixes with illustrations and historical documents round out the picture. An intriguing addition to the literature on music."—B. J. Murray, Miami University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Ariane et Barbe-bleue: A Dramatic and Musical Overview, by Matthew Gordon Brown and Thomas Emil Homerin
2. The Genesis of Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, by Matthew Gordon Brown
3. Performing Ariane et Barbe-Bleue: From Premier to Orchestral Suite, by Matthew Gordon Brown
4. A Feminist Opera? Women's Rights and Women's Wrongs in Maurice Maeterlinck's and Paul Dukas' Ariane and Bluebeard, by Jean Elisabeth Pedersen
5. Maurice Maeterlinck and the Mystical Ariane, by Thomas Emil Homerin
6. Maeterlinck and Plato's Cave, by Nicholas Gresens
7. Ariane et Barbe-Bleue and the Legacy of Richard Wagner, by Matthew Gordon Brown
8. Singing Ariane: An Interview with Katherine Ciesinski, by Katherine Ciesinski and Matthew Gordon Brown
9. Bluebeard, or Female Curiosity? Not the Same Old Story, by Andrea G. Reithmayr
10. Reflections on Comic Book Opera: P. Craig Russell's Ariane and Bluebeard, by Thomas Emil Homerin
11. An Adaptation of an Adaptation: TableTopOpera's Live Production of Ariane and Bluebeard, by Matthew Gordon Brown
Appendices
Albert Flament, "'Ariane' dans les ruines de St-Wandrille," Femina 163 (1 November, 1907), 484–85. English translation by Sébastien Cornut.
Henri Duvernois, "Les femmes de Barbe-Bleue," Femina 153 (1 June, 1907), 246–249. English translation by Sébastien Cornut.
Lucien Fugère, "La vie du théâtre," Musica 55 (April 1907), 53–55. English translation by Sébastien Cornut.
Paul Dukas, "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue," La Revue Musicale (numéro spécial) (May-June, 1936), 4–7. English translation by Timothy Scheie.
Montrose J. Moses, "The Wife of Maurice Maeterlinck," Metropolitan Magazine 34 (March, 1912), 38–52.
Georgette Leblanc-Maeterlinck, "The Later Heroines of Maurice Maeterlinck," Fortnightly Review 93 (January 1910), 48–56. English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
