Description
Book SynopsisArgues that Brecht's simultaneous work on opera and Lehrstuck in the 1920s generated the concept of audience experience that would come to define epic theater, and that his revisions to the theory of Gestus in the mid-1930s are reminiscent of nineteenth-century opera performance practices of mimesis.
Trade Review"A noteworthy, compelling, and occasionally provocative addition to the vast body of literature about Brecht that even literary scholars would not want to miss perusing." -- Eve M. Duffy H-German "An impressive book: impeccably researched, with two essential and pioneering chapters and three more which have much of interest to offer." -- Michael Ewans Comparative Drama "Excellent... Recommended." -- John Harrison, University of Northern Colorado Opera Journal
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Lehrstuck, Opera, and the New Audience Contract of the Epic Theater 2. The Operatic Roots of Gestus in The Mother and Round Heads and Pointed Heads 3. Fragments of Opera in American Exile 4. Lucullus: Opera and National Identity 5. Brecht's Legacy for Opera: Estrangement and the Canon Notes Bibliography Index
