Women writing opera : creativity and controversy in the age of the French Revolution / Jacqueline Letzter and Robert Adelson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Letzter, Jacqueline.

Contributor:

Adelson, Robert, 1967-

Series:

Studies on the history of society and culture ; 43.

Studies on the history of society and culture ; 43

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Opera--France--18th century.

Opera.

Women librettists.

Women composers.

France.

Women composers--France.

Women librettists--France.

Physical Description:

xvii, 341 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2001]

Summary:

In the age of the French Revolution opera was the locus of cabals, intrigues, and violent journalistic invective; yet, during this period, women composers and librettists gained access to concert halls as never before, their works among those most performed in Paris. Jacqueline Letzter and Robert Adelson's engaging history explains what made this possible. At the same time it demonstrates how the Revolution fostered many dreams and ambitions for women that would be doomed to disappointment in the repressive post-Revolutionary era.

The first part of the book concentrates on the women who succeeded in bringing their operas to the stage. The authors examine the backgrounds of these women, the institutional barriers they had to surmount, and the problems they faced in asserting their authority and authorship. The book's second half is a detailed case study of Isabelle de Charriere (1740-1805), a prolific author and composer who witnessed the success of her female colleagues but was unable to gain recognition for herself. In an analytical epilogue, Letzter and Adelson discuss the status of creative women in Revolutionary culture and society.

Although the period from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century was remarkably feminist, no previous study has focused on the unprecedented flowering of opera by women during this time. In recovering many of these forgotten composers and librettists, Women Writing Opera brings a new perspective to feminist history. Equally important, it suggests fresh interpretations of both the geners and institutions of eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century French opera.

Contents:

2. Education 43

3. The Politics of Opera 67

4. Authority and Identity 110

5. The Career Manque of Isabelle de Charriere: A Case Study 137

Epilogue: The Problem of the Exceptional Woman 213

Appendix Operas by Women Composers and Librettists, 1670-1820 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-327) and index.

ISBN:

0520226534

OCLC:

45137523