Opera on Opera (on Opera) Self-Referential Negotiations of a Difficult Genre

Frieder von Ammon, Munich

This paper focuses on metaopera as a distinctive dramatic genre and examines it from both a systematic and a historical perspective. It is demonstrated that, due to its specific structural complexity, metaopera is located at the very centre of the wide field of ‘Self-Reference in Literature and Music’. It is through music that in metaopera the potential for dramatic meta-communication is considerably higher than in purely verbal drama. Furthermore, metaopera is a subject worthy of close study also for the cultural historian as, from its very beginnings, opera has contin- uously been a self-reflexive genre. Thus operas, as metaoperas, frequently tell the story of the cultural development of opera itself. Such metareferential conditions are demonstrated in this paper by a close analysis of Hofmannsthal and Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, which, in the light of earlier metaoperas, is interpreted as an example of meta-metaopera representing operatic metareferentiality to the highest degree.

The 7th of February, 1786, is an important date in the history of self- reference in literature and music. In honour of the Low Countries’ general governor, Duke August of Sachsen-Teschen, and his wife, the German emperor, Joseph II, had arranged a special event for this day. It took place in the orangery of Castle Schönbrunn in Vienna, for that was the only room with an appropriate heating system, and it bore the beautiful title ‘Frühlingsfest an einem Wintertag’ (‘Spring Festival on a Winter’s Day’). One is, however, tempted to speak of a ‘Festival of Self-Reference’ instead. The Viennese court chronicle describes the event as follows: Nach geendigter Tafel, und Mittlerweile, als Seine Majestät mit den sämmtlichen Gästen Sich zu einem der Seitwärts am Ende des Orangerie Hauses errichteten Theater begaben, wurde die ganze Tafel aufgehoben, und aus dem Hause hinweg- gebracht, und sogleich die ganze Länge des Parterre beederseits herrlich be- leuchtet, worauf Seine Majestät mit den Gästen zu dem an dem Anderen Ende dieses Orangerie Hauses errichteten Theater sich erhuben, alwo ein teutsches Schauspiel mit untermengten Arien aufgeführet wurde. 66 Frieder von Ammon

Nach dessen Ende begab sich die ganze Gesellschaft hinab zu dem an dem anderen Ende angebrachten Theater, alwo sofort ein Italienisches Singspiel aufge- führet wurde. (Qtd. Braunbehrens 1989: 151)1 The ‘German play with added arias’ and the ‘Italian Singspiel’ were Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario), a comedy by the then well- known Viennese playwright and librettist Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, for which Mozart had composed an ouverture, two arias, a trio, and a vaudeville; and Prima la musica, poi le parole (First the Music, Then the Words), an opera buffa, the libretto of which had been written by the then also famous poet and librettist Giambattista Casti, with the music composed by Salieri. Both works address the same issue: the contemporary dramatical and theatrical practice and its deplorable state of affairs, and in both cases the subject is treated satir- ically. Whereas Der Schauspieldirektor focuses mainly on players, plays, and related problems, Prima la musica is concerned with opera and its specific issues, especially the rivalry between librettist and composer, seria- and buffa-singers, and the disastrous influence of noble patronage on opera: the cause of the conflict is a duke, who demands a new opera to be written in only four days, and his mistress, a seria-singer, to partake in its performance; another aristocrat wants his mistress, a buffa-singer, to take part in the performance, too. Therefore, both works are self-referential, or more specifically, meta- dramatical and metatheatrical works, and thus the ‘Festival of Self- Reference’ should better be called a ‘Festival of Metadrama and Meta- theatre’. Joseph II, who is known for his great interest in dramatic and theatrical affairs, had himself chosen this subject. Obviously he wanted to present in a sophisticated way not only ‘his’ two renowned composers, Mozart and Salieri – as well as the librettists with whom they had had their greatest successes so far (in Mozart and Stephanie’s case, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and in Casti and Salieri’s case, La Grotta di Trifonio) – but also the two ensembles of his court: ‘die National-Hof-Schauspieler’ (the national court players) and ‘die

1 ‘After the end of the banquet, and while His Majesty and all his guests betook themselves to one of the two theatres erected on either end of the orangery, the meal was officially ended, and the dishes were removed, and immediately the entire length of the parterre was marvellously illuminated on both sides, whereupon His Majesty rose with the guests, and went to the theatre which had been built at the other side of the orangery, where a German play with added arias was performed. After this play was over, the entire party betook themselves down to the theatre at the other end of the orangery, where forthwith an Italian Singspiel was performed.’ [My translation]