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  • A Poetics of Handel's Operas

    A Poetics of Handel's Operas by Link, Nathan;

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      • Publisher's listprice GBP 94.00
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    Product details:

    • Publisher OUP USA
    • Date of Publication 3 May 2023

    • ISBN 9780197651346
    • Binding Hardback
    • No. of pages388 pages
    • Size 237x163x30 mm
    • Weight 694 g
    • Language English
    • Illustrations 52 musical examples, 36 b/w figures
    • 408

    Categories

    Short description:

    A Poetics of Handel's Operas explores the concurrence between the narratives of Handelian operas and how these stories are represented through actions, words, and music. Nathan Link offers a new approach for interpreting and constructing the stories of Handel's operas while highlighting the representational fabric by which they are conveyed to the viewer.

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    Long description:

    What should we consider when thinking about the relationship between an onstage performance and the story the performance tells? A Poetics of Handel's Operas explores this question by analyzing the narratives of Handel's operas in relation to the rich representational fabric of performance used to convey them. Nathan Link notes that in most storytelling genres, the audience can naturally discern between a story and the way that story is represented: with film, for example, the viewer would recognize that a character hears neither her own voiceover nor the ambient music that accompanies it, whereas in discussions of opera, some audiences may be distracted by the seemingly artificial nature of such conventions as characters singing their dialogue. Link proposes that when engaging with opera, distinguishing between the performance we see and hear on the stage and the story represented offers a meaningful approach to engaging with and interpreting the work.

    Handel's operas are today the most-performed works in the Baroque opera seria tradition. This genre, with its intricate dramaturgy and esoteric conventions, stands to gain much from an investigation into the relationships between the onstage performance and the story to which that performance directs us. In his analysis, Link offers theoretical studies on opera and narratological theories of literature, drama, and film, providing rich engagement with Handel's work and what it conveys about the relationship between text, story, and performance.

    The chapter headings of Link's intriguingly titled Poetics of Handel's Operas hint at the nature of this extraordinary volume: Song, Time, Orchestra, Character, and Storytelling. Taking full advantage of all we have learned about Handel's operas over the past half-century, from the likes of Winton Dean et al, Link goes beyond facts and figures to focus, not on the what, but on the how, and not from the point of view of the composer alone but from his relationship with his audience-on the expressive contract established between them. By engaging a variety of critical strategies drawn from literary, film, and dramatic theory, Link brilliantly illuminates Handel's storytelling in ways that can be applied to operas of any period, including our own.

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    Table of Contents:

    List of Figures
    List of Musical Examples
    Editorial Principles
    About the Website
    Acknowledgements
    Dedication
    Introduction
    Chapter 1. Song
    Chapter 2. Time
    Chapter 3. Orchestra
    Chapter 4. Character
    Chapter 5. Storytellers
    Glossary
    Works Cited
    Index

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