The republic of love : opera and political freedom / Martha C. Nussbaum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nussbaum, Martha C. (Martha Craven), 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Opera--Political aspects.

Opera.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (391 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2026.

Summary:

In The Republic of Love, philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum offers a bold and original vision of opera's contribution to political thought. Drawing on her deep knowledge of classical and contemporary opera, she reveals how composers like Mozart, Strauss, Verdi, Beethoven, and others used their music to explore the depths of human emotions and recognize the need for dignity, love, and freedom. Through these works, Nussbaum shows how opera can point the way to a new way of living together.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Quotes

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Part I. Mozart: Freemason and Architect of Love

Chapter 1. Equality and Love at the End of The Marriage of Figaro: Forging Democratic Emotions

Chapter 2. Mozart and the Freemasons: Idomeneo and The Magic Flute

Chapter 3. Two Problem Operas: Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte

Chapter 4. "If You Could See This Heart": Mercy in La Clemenza Di Tito

Part II. Mozart's Heirs and One Antagonist

Chapter 5. Revenge and the Prison: Beethoven's Fidelio, Heggie's Dead Man Walking

Chapter 6. Liberty Or the Inquisition? Authority and Fear in Verdi's Don Carlos

Chapter 7. Internal Exiles: Oppression and Reconciliation in Britten and Janáček

Chapter 8. War and the Search for Peace: John Adams's Nixon in China

Chapter 9: Ahasuerus "Redeemed": Wagner From Despair to the Closed Community

Chapter 10: A "Pandemonium as Bright as the Sun and as Crazy as a Madhouse": Verdi's Falstaff

Opera and Political Thought

Part I

1 Equality and Love at the End of The Marriage of Figaro

"Happy in That Way"

The Ancien Régime and the Male Voice: Honor, Shame, Disgust

Females: Fraternity, Equality, Liberty

Creating a Man: "Mischievous Looks," a "Good Outside Myself"

Cherubino, Rousseau, Herder: Spaces for Craziness, "Dispositions of Peace"

Transcending the Everyday? Nussbaum Contra Nussbaum

2 Mozart and the Freemasons

Mozart the Freemason

Mozart's Vienna

Mozart Joins a Lodge

Idomeneo: The Reign of Love

The Magic Flute: Noble Ideals, Imperfect People

3 Two Problem Operas

Don Giovanni

Mozart Goes to Prague

The "Romantic" Interpretation: Kierkegaard, Steinberg, Williams

Rejecting the "Romantic" Interpretation: Nietzsche, Mörike, Dent, Kerman, Allanbrook, Nussbaum.

The Journey of Three Women

The Shadow of Death

Così Fan Tutte

The Libretto and Its Author

Act 1: The Game Begins

Act 2: Love Upsets the Game

How Do Things End?

4 "If You Could See This Heart"

A Final Statement

Titus in History

Roman Mercy

Seeing the Heart: Tito, Sesto, and Vitellia

Part II

5 Revenge and the Prison

Beethoven's Fidelio: Reaching for the Light

Dead Man Walking: The Execution Chamber

6 Liberty Or the Inquisition?

Verdi's Italian Republicanism

"Fire and Flames": The Birth of Don Carlos

Verdi and Schiller

Emotions, Personal and Political

7 Internal Exiles

Peter Grimes: The Crowd's Destructive Power

Albert Herring: Reconciliation and Hope

Jenůfa: Oppression and Radical Love

8 War and the Search for Peace

Mozart On War: Evasion and One Profound Insight

Operas Approaching War and Peace-Making

Nixon in China: An Opera Searching for Peace

9 Ahasuerus "Redeemed"

Wagner and the Jews: Persecution Complex and Political Project

The Flying Dutchman: Pessimism, Alienation, Redemption

Die Meistersinger: Cheerfulness, Self-Satisfaction

Sachs's Monologue: Schopenhauer in Search of a Happy Ending

Sachs's Final Speech: Evolution and Political Meaning

10 A "Pandemonium as Bright as the Sun and as Crazy as a Madhouse"

The Aging Opera Composer in a Society That Makes No Room for the Aging

The Choice of Falstaff: Challenges of the Character

Verdi and Boito: A Work of Joyful Friendship

Boito's Libretto: To "Mediterraneanize Music"

The Music: Innovation, Rapidity, Complexity

The Young Lovers

"Quand'ero Paggio"

The Trill Scene

The Final Scene and Fugue

Aftermath

Conclusion

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-781257-0

0-19-781256-2

9780197812563

OCLC:

1570330272