Report of Monthly Regular Meeting February 2022 (The 200th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

• Time and Date : February 5th (Sat.) 2022, 16:30-18:20 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)
• Presenter : OHTA, Misako
• Affiliation, Position : Kobe University Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Associate Professor. Adjunct researcher at the Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre
• Title : The Aesthetics of Opera and Musicals: Their Continuity and Disjuncture—From the Perspective of Weill Studies
• Language : Japanese
• Abstract :
  Kurt Weill (1900-1950), as a composer of “musical theater,” from operas and Lehrstück (like “Der Lindberghflug” and “Der Jasager”) to Broadway musicals, created various types of musical theater. Even in the corona situation, the presence of experimental and social music theater is still alive and well, with various online performances. The changes in his works before and after his exile led to the “two Weills” controversy, and there was also the background of the Cold War. Now the focus is on the continuity as well as the “difference” and “division” in his works between the German and American periods. This issue is also an acute problem in the understanding of performances of Weill’s musical theater.
  In this presentation, I would like to consider the issue of continuity and fragmentation in the aesthetics of operas and musicals from the perspective of Weill studies, focusing on the following three points :
  1. The “two Weills” controversy as a restarting point
  2. Opera and musicals in Weill’s own music theory
  3. Musicals and Brecht’s theory
• Profile of Presenter :
  Misako Ohta is an associate professor of the Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Division of Human Expression, at Kobe University. Born in Tokyo, she studied musicology at Tokyo University of the Arts (BA) and German Literature at Gakushuin University (MA). Her PhD in music history (University of Vienna, 2001) examined artistic intention and its public effects in Kurt Weill’s musical theater from the 1920s into the 1930s. She teaches Western music history within its cultural context and transnational perspective and has been a music critic for the regional edition (Kansai area) of the Yomiuri Shimbun since 2003. She is preparing a critical biography of Kurt Weill in Japanese. researchmap.jp/Misako_Ohta
• Moderator : KUGIMIYA, Takako

＊Comments : There were 37 participants.

Report of Monthly Regular Meeting December 2021 (The 199th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

• Time and Date : December 4th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-17:30 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)

Keywords for Opera and Music Theatre

• Presenter : OGINO, Shizuo
• Affiliation, Position : Waseda University, School of Political Science and Economics, Professor
• Title: “New Opera and Music Theatre in the Present and New Directions”
• Language : Japanese

• Abstract : This project introduces new opera and music theater staged in Europe and North America in this century, and it examines new directions there. In this way, it tries to consider how the operatic medium has been transformed.

Keywords : traditional opera / digital age / new music theater / transformation of the operatic medium / new directions

• Profile of Presenter :
  Professor at Waseda University, School of Political Science and Economics. Director of the Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre, Comprehensive Research Organization at Waseda University. Special research fields: opera and music theatre and culture in the countries of the German language. Professor Ogino is coauthor of “Opera and Music Studies Today – Dynamism of Creation and Spreading” (2021) and “Handbook for Opera and Music Theatre Studies – Reading Keywords” (2017). He is the author of “Ingmar Bergmans Verfilmung der ‘Zauberflöte’” (2015) and the translator of “Wagner und die bildende Kunst seiner Zeit” by Andrea Gottdang (2019).

• Moderator : YAGISHITA, Emi

*Comment : There were 27 participants.

Report of Monthly Regular Meeting November 2021 (The 198th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

• Time and Date : November 6th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-18:00 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)
• Presenter : Newell, Anthony
• Affiliation, Position: School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University (Professor)
• Title : “Opera on 82 Keys: The convergence of opera and the piano in the first half of the 19th century”
• Language : English
• Abstract :
  In the realm of music, opera and the piano have long been established as major but distinct areas of interest, but in the first half of the nineteenth century, in particular the two decades of the 1830s and 1840s, there was a convergence of the two that gave rise to the notion that the piano—essentially a percussive instrument—could be made to “sing.” A new breed of piano virtuoso appeared whose exploits on the keyboard—not just in playing but also in producing compositions based on melodies from the most popular operas of the day—astounded their audiences, often driving them into a state that can best be described as one of hysteria.
  Both Western opera and the piano trace their origins back to Italy, but by the time of the decades of interest here, it was France’s capital—Paris—that dominated the musical scene in Europe. In this presentation, we will briefly consider the separate histories of opera and the piano, and then examine the influence that the music of the former had on the repertoire of the latter, leading to a dramatic expansion of keyboard technique beyond anything previously known.
  Among the profusion of piano prodigies that flocked to Paris, arguably the two greatest—at least in terms of keyboard proficiency—were Franz Liszt and Sigismond Thalberg, and it is in particular through the prism of their work using operatic melody for inspiration that this presentation will consider the issue.

• Profile of Presenter :
  Tony Newell is a Professor of English at the School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University. As a linguist, his work at Waseda is mostly concerned with the teaching of English and Sociolinguistics, but for the purpose of this presentation, he will use as a basis his lifelong interest in opera and the piano. This interest was spurred by a three-year period spent as a high school student in Milan, Italy, where he lived just ten minutes on foot from the Teatro alla Scala and where, for a while, he received weekly piano tuition at the Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano.
• Moderator : KASAHARA, Mariko

＊Comments : There were 18 participants.

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

＊Comments: There were 18 participants.

Presentation Abstract for the Meeting

• Time and Date : October 9th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-18:00 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)
• Presenter : EGUCHI, Daisuke
• Affiliation, Position : School of Law, Waseda University
• Title : “The verisimilitude in Alceste by Wieland/Schweitzer”
• Language : Japanese
• Moderator : SATO, Suguru
• Abstract :
  Alceste (1773) by C. M. Wieland and A. Schweitzer can be compared with Alceste (1674) of Quinault/Lully and Alceste (Italian version 1767, French version 1776), which is composed by Gluck, in that they are all based on the work of Euripides and focus on the verisimilitude of the drama. Referring to the essay “Versuch über das Teutsche Singspiel” by Wieland and some important events such as the controversy about “Alceste” in France and the Operatic reforms by Gluck, I will observe the tense relationship between the verisimilitude and the marvelous in the libretto of Alceste by Wieland.

Attention

Registration is required by October 6th (Wed.). Please fill out the following Google-Form:
（https://forms.gle/HTWMi1ak7VqV4wTA7）
-The invitation e-mail via zoom will be sent to the registrants on 8th October.

Profile of Presenter

EGUCHI, Daisuke

Daisuke Eguchi is an Associate Professor at Waseda University. His research field is German Literature and Literature Theory in the 18th century. He focuses on the works of Jean Paul (1763-1825) and the poetic theories in the early Enlightenment in Germany. “ Wahrheit and Wahrscheinlichkeit in Critische Dichtkunst of J.J.Breitinger”(2011), “The proper name Paul in Jean Paul’s Selberlebensbeschreibung” (2019)

Next meeting

Next meeting will be held on 6th Nov. (Sat.) 2021

• Presenter : NEWELL, Anthony
• Moderator : KASAHARA, Mariko

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University :
https://w3.waseda.jp/prj-opera-mt/

e-mail address: operaken-uketsuke[at]list.waseda.jp　( [at] = @)

Report of Monthly Regular Meeting October 2021 (The 197th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

＊Comments: There were 21 participants.

• Time and Date : October 9th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-18:00 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)
• Presenter : EGUCHI, Daisuke
• Affiliation, Position : School of Law, Waseda University
• Title : “The verisimilitude in Alceste by Wieland/Schweitzer”
• Language : Japanese
• Abstract :
  Alceste (1773) by C. M. Wieland and A. Schweitzer can be compared with Alceste (1674) of Quinault/Lully and Alceste (Italian version 1767, French version 1776), which is composed by Gluck, in that they are all based on the work of Euripides and focus on the verisimilitude of the drama. Referring to the essay “Versuch über das Teutsche Singspiel” by Wieland and some important events such as the controversy about “Alceste” in France and the Operatic reforms by Gluck, I will observe the tense relationship between the verisimilitude and the marvelous in the libretto of Alceste by Wieland.
• Profile of Presenter :
  Daisuke Eguchi is an Associate Professor at Waseda University. His research field is German Literature and Literature Theory in the 18th century. He focuses on the works of Jean Paul (1763-1825) and the poetic theories in the early Enlightenment in Germany. “ Wahrheit and Wahrscheinlichkeit in Critische Dichtkunst of J.J.Breitinger”(2011), “The proper name Paul in Jean Paul’s Selberlebensbeschreibung” (2019)
• Moderator: SATO, Suguru

Report of Monthly Regular Meeting July 2021 (The 196th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

the meeting report for 7/17

＊Comments : There were 28 participants including those from abroad. Lively questions and answers took place.

Presentation Abstract for the Meeting

• Time and Date : July 17th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-18:00 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)
• Presenter : OSAKI, Sayano (Adjunct researcher at the Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre)
• Title : “The Representation of Foreigners in Goldoni’s Works: Focusing on Works Set in the East”
• Language : Japanese
• Abstract :
  The eighteenth-century Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) wrote in all theatrical genres—comedies, tragicomedies, and libretti for opera buffa, intermezzi, and opera seria. One of the most successful Venetian productions of the eighteenth-century was his tragicomedy La sposa persiana (The Persian Bride), first performed in 1753 and set in Persia, in the East. This success may have been influenced by the popularity of One Thousand and One Nights, translated into French by Antoine Galland (1704-1717) and subsequently into the major European languages, which stimulated interest in the Eastern world. At the same time, however, it is not clear whether the Venetian audience perceived “Persia” or “Persian” as a separate country or people, or whether their perception was more vague: “the Eastern world, the foreigners of the East”.

   

  In his comedy La vedova scaltra (The Cunning Widow), first performed in 1748, Goldoni portrayed each of the four men who proposed to the widow—English, French, Spanish and Italian (although Italy was not yet a nation)—by giving them the characteristics that Venetian audiences would have generally recognized as national characteristics at the time. Does Goldoni, then, give each country or ethnic group in the Eastern world a distinct character? In my presentation, I will examine the characteristics of the Persian, Scythian, and Turkish characters in his plays and operas set in the East, and examine the image of foreigners in the East that the Venetian audience generally seems to have had.

• Profile of Presenter :
  Ph.D.(Literature). Special research fields: Italian Theatre and Literature. Sayano Osaki is the author of “Interpreting L’incoronazione di Poppea: Busenello’s Hymn in Praise of the Earthly Life”, Waseda Opera and Music Theatre Studies, No.1 (2018), “Goldoni and Opera Seria: Focusing on Its Relationship with Metastasio’s Works”, Bulletin of the Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts, No. 44 (2019), “Martelliano Verse and the Musicality of Theatre: On Goldoni’s Use of Martelliano”, Theatre and Music (Shinwasha, 2020), etc. Part-time lecturer at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo College of Music, Meiji University, Hosei University, and The Open University of Japan.
• Moderator : OGINO, Shizuo

Report of Monthly Regular Meeting June 2021 (The 195th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

the meeting report for 6/19

＊Comments : There were 46 participants including those from abroad.

Presentation Abstract for the Meeting

• Time and Date : June 19th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-18:00 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting
• Presenter : BROSSEAU, Sylvie (School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, Professor)
• Title : L’Opéra de Paris, un accomplissement urbanistique, architectural et social pour la Capitale du XIXe siècle
• Language : Japanese
• Moderator : OHTA, Misako
• Abstract :
  L’Opéra de Paris est un monument particulièrement représentatif de l’architecture éclectique et du style historiciste de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle en Europe. L’Opéra s’inscrit dans les grandes transformations urbanistiques de Paris, décidées par Napoléon III (1808-1873) et dirigées par le préfet Haussmann (1809-1891), dont il doit être le joyau. Il est conçu par l’architecte Charles Garnier (1825-1898), jeune inconnu choisi par un concours, et sa construction commence en 1861. Elle est interrompue en 1870 par la guerre franco-allemande et la chute du Second Empire (1852-1870), puis elle reprend en 1873. L’Opéra est finalement inauguré en 1875 et devient un haut-lieu de la sociabilité bourgeoise de la troisième République ainsi que de réceptions officielles, jusqu’à nos jours.
  Dans cette présentation, nous essaierons d’observer la situation de l’Opéra avec son avenue dans le nouveau système urbain, les choix architecturaux, et ses rôles pour la société de son époque.

Profile of Presenter

BROSSEAU, Sylvie

Après des études d’architecture (DPLG) et d’urbanisme à Paris, Sylvie Brosseau s’est installée au Japon, à Tokyo. Elle étudie, et vit aussi, les liens entre la ville et la nature à Tokyo : espaces, temporalités, pratiques. Elle est professeure à l’université Waseda, et co-responsable du réseau scientifique thématique franco-japonais JAPARCHI https://japarchi.fr/. Ses recherches actuelles portent sur les parcs publics, les jardins de rue, l’architecture japonaise contemporaine. Elle a codirigé le numéro 57 (2020) de la revue Ebisu : https://journals.openedition.org/ebisu/4842
Les architectes de l’ère Heisei (1989-2019). Rôles, statuts, pratiques et productions (平成の建築家（1989〜2019）：その役割、社会的地位、実践と作品 / The Architects from the Heisei Era (1989–2019). Roles, Status, Practices and Productions)

the meeting report for 5/15

＊Comments: There were 28 participants including those from abroad.

Report of Monthly Regular Meeting May 2021　(The 194th Meeting of Opera Research Group)

Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University

Keywords for Opera and Music Theatre

Abstract for the Meeting

• Time and Date : May 15th (Sat.) 2021, 16:30-17:50 (JST)
• Format : Online meeting (Zoom)
• Presenter : KUGIMIYA, Takako (Nagoya University, doctoral research fellow)
• Title : Japanese images in Japan-themed operas and operettas composed in Vienna in the early 20th century
• Language : Japanese
• Moderator : NAKAMURA, Ryo
• Abstract :
  Sullivan’s operetta The Mikado (1885) and Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly (1904) are well known as music dramas based on Japan. In the early part of the 20th century, Japan-themed operas and operettas were also composed in Vienna, offering the view of Japan taken by the scriptwriters and composers of the time. This presentation takes up works composed and performed in Vienna from 1900 to 1920 and examines the methods used to represent the Japanese in both the script and the music. This presentation also examines how Japanese people depicted in the works changed in parallel with the process by which Japan was recognized by the West as a modern nation.

Keywords :  Vienna / Japonism / Opera / Operetta / Kabuki / Geisha / Japanese Songs

Profile of Presenter

Takako KUGIMIYA

Takako KUGIMIYA is currently a doctoral research fellow at Nagoya University and a part-time lecturer at Tokushima Bunri University (Japan). She completed the performance course at the Graduate School of Humanities, Ochanomizu University, and graduated from Nagoya University Graduate School of Languages and Cultures with a doctoral degree. She is a doctor of philosophy: Ph.D. Her doctoral dissertation was titled Austro-German Japonism in Music from the 1890s to the 1910s. In recent years, she has been rediscovering and researching Japan-themed operas and operettas composed in Vienna.