The operatic state : cultural policy and the opera house / Ruth Bereson.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-213) and index.

Print version record.

Introducing the power brokers -- Princely pleasures : princes and power : the birthplace of European opera -- Of kings and barricades : from the heart of Versailles to the Place de la Bastille -- The disunited kingdom : London's operatic battles -- Along the Danube and the Rhine : playthings of the Austro-Hungarian and Prussian empires -- The jewel in the crown : stronger and more permanent than ideologies : why opera was retained by the Bolsheviks -- Magnificence of the met -- The commercial fable : high society, corporations and state -- The chip in the harbour -- Other operas -- Other worlds -- Back to the future?

Annotation "The Operatic State" examines the cultural, financial, and political investments that have gone into the maintenance of opera and opera houses across Italy, France, Russia, the United States, Australia and the UK, and which have led to opera's nearly immutable form throughout wars, revolutions, and vast social changes. Bereson argues that by legitimizing the power of the state through universally recognized ceremonial ritual, opera enjoys a privileged status across three continents, often to the detriment of popular and indigenous art forms.

English.

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