Digital Scenography in Opera in the Twenty-First Century

Contents

• Introduction Chapter One – Digitally-enhanced opera in the twenty-first century and the modes of synthesis Chapter Two – Digitally-enhanced opera in the twenty-first century and the variants of causal interplay Chapter Three – The lineage of digital sceno
• Introduction to digital scenography in opera
• What is digital scenography?
• Why opera?
• Research methods
• The modes of synthesis
• Examples of practice
• Interviews
• Chapter outline
• References
• Chapter One – A new classification system for digital scenography: the modes of synthesis
• Articulating the modes of synthesis: non-synthesis, partial-synthesis, and full- synthesis
• Non-synthesis—San Francisco Opera, The Magic Flute (2012)
• Partial-synthesis—Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, The Magic Flute (2005)
• Full-synthesis—Komische Oper Berlin, The Magic Flute (2012)
• A comparison of critical responses to the three productions
• Conclusion
• References
• Chapter Two – The variants of causal interplay
• Agency: the screen as ‘performer’
• Dutch National Opera, The Magic Flute (2012)—partial-synthesis
• Victorian Opera, Four Saints in Three Acts (2016)—partial-synthesis
• Augmentation: extension and transformation through digitalisation
• The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Don Giovanni (2014)—partial-synthesis
• Victorian Opera, The Flying Dutchman (2015)—partial-synthesis
• Full-synthesis extremes of agency and augmentation
• Opéra de Lyon, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (2016)—full-synthesis
• Autonomy: faux-interactivity versus functional interactivity
• The Metropolitan Opera, Das Rheingold (2010)—partial-synthesis
• Implications for performers and audiences
• References
• Chapter Three – The lineage of digital scenography in opera: Baroque origins to the twentieth century
• The origins of the Baroque opera paradigm
• The Baroque paradigm and the interplay between performer, stage setting, and spectator
• New perspectives: the scenic reforms of Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena (1657–1743)
• The scenographic transition to ‘grand opera’
• The ‘mystic chasm’: Richard Wagner (1813–1883) and the Bayreuth Festspielhaus
• Adolphe Appia (1862–1928) and dynamic light
• Looking towards the twentieth century
• References
• Chapter Four – The lineage of digital scenography in opera: multimedia developments in the twentieth century
• Avant-garde origins
• Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966) and Enrico Prampolini (1894–1956): ‘a thousand scenes in one’ and ‘luminous forms’
• Josef Svoboda (1920–2002) and the dynamic setting of the Laterna Magika
• The Tales of Hoffmann (1962)
• Günther Schneider-Siemssen (1926–2015) and the holograms of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• The Tales of Hoffmann (1985)
• Looking towards the twenty-first century
• References
• Chapter Five – The projection designer and evolving creative hierarchies
• Industry recognition and acknowledgement
• The traditional theatrical hierarchy: director as ultimate authority
• The lateral hierarchy: collective directorate
• Hierarchical variation: projection designers as the directorial authority
• The evolving role of the projection designer
• References
• Chapter Six – Digital scenography and evolving production design processes
• A benchmark of organisational and funding models
• The twentieth-century standard for production design
• Washington National Opera’s Das Rheingold (2016)—non-synthesis
• Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie’s The Magic Flute (2005)—partial-synthesis
• Dutch National Opera’s The Magic Flute (2012)—partial-synthesis
• Santa Fe Opera’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2017)—non-synthesis
• Komische Oper Berlin’s The Magic Flute (2012)—full-synthesis
• Commonalities across the five production design processes
• Production design processes and the modes of synthesis
• References
• Conclusion – The future evolution of digital scenography
• References
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3