DOCSLIB.ORG

Imagining the West in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union PITT SERIES in RUSSIAN and EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Imagining the West in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union PITT SERIES in RUSSIAN and EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES Imagining the West in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union PITT SERIES IN RUSSIAN AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES Jonathan Harris, Editor KRITIKA HISTORICAL STUDIES IMAGINING THE WEST IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION EDITED BY GYÖRGY PÉTERI University of Pittsburgh Press Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260 Copyright © 2010, University of Pittsburgh Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Imagining the West in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union / edited by György Péteri. p. cm. — (Pitt series in Russian and East European studies) (Kritika historical studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8229-6125-3 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Europe, Eastern—Relations—Western countries. 2. Russia—Relations—Western countries. 3. Soviet Union—Relations—Western countries. 4. Western countries— Relations—Europe, Eastern. 5. Western countries—Relations—Russia. 6. Western countries—Relations—Soviet Union. 7. Geographical perception—Europe, Eastern— History. 8. Geographical perception—Soviet Union—History. 9. East and West. 10. Transnationalism. I. Péteri, György. DJK45.W47I45 2010 303.48'24701821—dc22 2010031525 CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction: The Oblique Coordinate Systems of Modern Identity 1 GyörGy Péteri Chapter 2. Were the Czechs More Western Than Slavic? Nineteenth-Century Travel Literature from Russia by Disillusioned Czechs 13 Karen GammelGaard Chapter 3. Privileged Origins: “National Models” and Reforms of Public Health in Interwar Hungary 36 EriK inGebriGtsen Chapter 4. Defending Children’s Rights, “In Defense of Peace”: Children and Soviet Cultural Diplomacy 59 Catriona Kelly Chapter 5. East as True West: Redeeming Bourgeois Culture, from Socialist Realism to Ostalgie 87 GreG Castillo Chapter 6. Paris or Moscow? Warsaw Architects and the Image of the Modern City in the 1950s 105 David Crowley Chapter 7. Imagining Richard Wagner: The Janus Head of a Divided Nation 131 Elaine Kelly v vi contents Chapter 8. From Iron Curtain to Silver Screen: Imagining the West in the Khrushchev Era 153 Anne e. GorsuCh Chapter 9. Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall . Is the West the Fairest of Them All? Czechoslovak Normalization and Its (Dis)contents 172 Paulina bren Chapter 10. Who Will Beat Whom? Soviet Popular Reception of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, 1959 194 Susan e. reid Chapter 11. Moscow Human Rights Defenders Look West: Attitudes toward U.S. Journalists in the 1960s and 1970s 237 Barbara walKer Chapter 12. Conclusion: Transnational History and the East-West Divide 258 MiChael david-Fox Notes 269 CoNtributors 329 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION THE OBLIQUE COORDINATE SYSTEMS OF MODERN IDENTITY György Péteri Few today would deNy the importance of the study of images, percep- tions, and mentalities on which the modern social order rests. A possible ap- proach to these entities leads through an understanding of the processes of mental mapping. In 1905, Endre Ady wrote, Ferry-land, ferry-land, ferry-land . even in its most daring dreams it is only roaming back and fro between two shores. From East to West or, rather, the other way around. [. .] Sporadically, there have already been souls who have engaged with the West. [. .] Some 10,000 people have run ahead. They have become European in nerves, blood, thought, pain, and thirst. An overdeveloped type of human has established itself here: they are ahead of Hungarian society by at least 100 years. These holy forerun- ners did not even dream of not being followed by hundreds of thousands. [. .] You are great, my people; you are great. You have been continually struggling with Europe for 1,000 years. In the meantime, you have been recruiting troops. Although you were bleeding. But you have never allowed Reason to triumph over the heads of your children—you live in the middle of Europe as a living protest against piercing the virginal membrane of barbaric existence. [. .] The Tartars are moving on turbulently under the Carpathians.1 1 2 györgy péteri Nearly a century later, Péter Esterházy was asked, in a 1992 interview, “What kind of country would you like to live in?” He replied, “I share the helpless- ness that constitutes Europe today. This empty head, this shoulder-shrugging, this shy gaze toward the ground—this is Europe. Therefore, my answer can only be a practical one, and rather suspicious too. I prefer to cite my friend who says he would like to live in a country like Toscana inhabited by English- men speaking Hungarian.”2 Symbolic geographies reveal how human agents, in particular histori- cal and cultural contexts, define themselves by locating themselves spatially as well as temporally, drawing the boundaries of social spaces where they are within, and relating themselves and their spaces to others and to what lies, in their discursively constructed spatial/temporal order, without, behind, and ahead. What makes these socially and historically situated processes really important is their intimate relationship to the formation of identities and, in- deed, to identity politics (including the regular attempts in all kinds of mod- ern political regimes to manage identities through the projection of images about themselves and the others). The definition with any exactitude of any location in a physical space is a rather complicated matter, as is clearly demonstrated in the history of geo- graphical coordinate systems. Moreover, any point’s exact location on, in, or above Earth can be defined only on the basis of a set of conventions con- tested, negotiated, and decided on by humans. There has been nothing of an “objective necessity” forcing modern geographers of the 1880s to choose the line passing to the rear of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, U.K., as the prime meridian (the 0° longitude), defining everything that lies east of it as the Eastern Hemisphere and everything that lies to its west as the Western Hemisphere. If even our ways of “bringing order” into the natural world are so contingent, so highly dependent, on social interaction (negotiations pro- ducing and reproducing conventions—more or less generally shared under- standings—as to various reference points, reference lines, and/or procedures of mapping), it comes as little surprise that the regimes (criteria, standards, and procedures) defining the very “coordinates” of our symbolic geographies exhibit a overwhelming level of variability and exposure to human agency and never-ceasing contestation. Mental mapping in the modern and late modern era can and should certainly be understood and studied as consisting in at least four distinct, al- though partly overlapping operations.3 The first of these is the construction of regionlike units by associating alleged constituent parts of an area (like “the West” or “Eastern Europe”), whereby resemblances producing apparently introduction 3 “shared patterns” are emphasized at the cost of differences/deviations marring these patterns. Moreover, a position is assigned to these parts (and the coherent whole they are imagined to constitute) in the prevalent “developmental hierarchies” of the time, localizing the region thus construed on an axis between “barba- rism” at one extreme and “civilization” at the other, between “Asia” and “Eu- rope,” between “traditional” and “modern,” between “backwardness” and “development.” Karen Gammelgaard’s study in this volume of Czech travelers to Russia at the end of the long nineteenth century describes their increasing disenchantment as they found social conditions in the empire, which was ex- pected to act as the enlightened and modern patron of all the smaller Slavic nations to its west, to be generally backward and despotic. As the Czech visi- tors articulated their perceptions of Russia in contrastive terms, and as they (at least Havlíček and Mrštík) associated the negative Russian character- istics with the notion of “East,” “Asia,” and/or “Byzantium,” the position of the Czechs (and the Czech lands) was “mentally transferred . westward.” Havlíček’s, Mrštík’s, and Stašek’s challenges to the contemporary Czech lit- erary intelligentsia’s cherished idea of Slavic unity with Russia implied and brought with them the redefinition of the very system of coordinates used to identify the place of the Russians and the Czechs on Earth: the former ap- peared, more and more, to have been lost to “Asia” at the same time and to the same extent as the latter’s claim to be part of “Europe” grew firmer and more obvious. Mental “regionalization” is also shaped by “peopling” our arealike con- structions, that is, by naming and characterizing physically, mentally, and culturally the humans who populate them.4 Advocates promoting two dif- ferent models of public health in Hungary of the 1930s, as is ably shown by Erik Ingebrigtsen in this volume, did not hesitate to promote their own fa- vorite solution by depicting it as an authentic Magyar model, developed on Magyar soil in response to Magyar needs and conditions and/or, even, to “the unconscious desires of the Hungarian race.” Some of the arguments defined this imagined Hungary, in an effort to devalue the alien (American, French, or German) models of public health, by claiming that foreign models could hardly work in the backward Hungarian countryside, “where you first and foremost do not find mothers possessing sufficient intelligence” for a success- ful adoption of the Western model of general public health. In “addressing” a
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 178 Chapter 6 the Closing of the Kroll: Weimar
    Chapter 6 The Closing of the Kroll: Weimar Culture and the Depression The last chapter discussed the Kroll Opera's success, particularly in the 1930-31 season, in fulfilling its mission as a Volksoper. While the opera was consolidating its aesthetic identity, a dire economic situation dictated the closing of opera houses and theaters all over Germany. The perennial question of whether Berlin could afford to maintain three opera houses on a regular basis was again in the air. The Kroll fell victim to the state's desire to save money. While the closing was not a logical choice, it did have economic grounds. This chapter will explore the circumstances of the opera's demise and challenge the myth that it was a victim of the political right. The last chapter pointed out that the response of right-wing critics to the Kroll was multifaceted. Accusations of "cultural Bolshevism" often alternated with serious appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of any given production. The right took issue with the Kroll's claim to represent the nation - hence, when the opera tackled works by Wagner and Beethoven, these efforts were more harshly criticized because they were perceived as irreverent. The scorn of the right for the Kroll's efforts was far less evident when it did not attempt to tackle works crucial to the German cultural heritage. Nonetheless, political opposition did exist, and it was sometimes expressed in extremely crude forms. The 1930 "Funeral Song of the Berlin Kroll Opera", printed in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, may serve as a case in point.
    [Show full text]
  • A Survey of the Career of Baritone, Josef Metternich: Artist and Teacher Diana Carol Amos University of South Carolina
    University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 2015 A Survey of the Career of Baritone, Josef Metternich: Artist and Teacher Diana Carol Amos University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Amos, D. C.(2015). A Survey of the Career of Baritone, Josef Metternich: Artist and Teacher. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3642 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SURVEY OF THE CAREER OF BARITONE, JOSEF METTERNICH: ARTIST AND TEACHER by Diana Carol Amos Bachelor of Music Oberlin Conservatory of Music, 1982 Master of Music University of South Carolina, 2011 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance School of Music University of South Carolina 2015 Accepted by: Walter Cuttino, Major Professor Donald Gray, Committee Member Sarah Williams, Committee Member Janet E. Hopkins, Committee Member Lacy Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies ©Copyright by Diana Carol Amos, 2015 All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the help of my professor, Walter Cuttino, for his direction and encouragement throughout this project. His support has been tremendous. My sincere gratitude goes to my entire committee, Professor Walter Cuttino, Dr. Donald Gray, Professor Janet E. Hopkins, and Dr. Sarah Williams for their perseverance and dedication in assisting me.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 2018 Juni Programm
    Programm 2018 Juni Programmschwerpunkt ,Radfunk‘ Deutschlandfunk und 2018 Deutschlandfunk Nova Seite 3 Herr Raue 2 Editorial Inhalt 25 Jahre Radio 2 Editorial für Deutschland 3 Aktuell Programmschwerpunkt ,Radfunk‘ Liebe Hörerinnen und Hörer, 4 Musik für die Fans von öffentlich-rechtlichem Qualitätsjournalis- Die Indie-Band Carnival Youth Deutschlandradio/ Rued Langgaard: ‚Antikrist‘ © Bettina Fürst-Fastré mus ist der 17. Juni ein gutes Datum. Vor 25 Jahren unter- zeichneten Vertreter der zwölf damals alten und vier neuen Bundesländer den 8 Literatur Deutschlandradio-Staatsvertrag und legten damit die Grundlage für Deutsch- ‚Lesezeit‘ mit Monika Maron Der amerikanische Schriftsteller lands einzigen bundesweiten Radiosender. Unter seinem Dach fanden so unter- und Fotograf Teju Cole schiedliche Einrichtungen wie der Deutschlandfunk und RIAS (West) sowie der Deutschlandsender Kultur (Ost) zusammen mit ihren traditionsreichen Orches- 10 Feature Monatsübersicht/Tipps tern und Chören eine neue Heimat. Deutschlandradio ist damit wie kein anderer Sender ein Kind der deutschen Einheit. 14 Gastbeitrag Dr. Mathias Döpfner Deshalb wissen wir aus eigener Erfahrung: Das Gefühl des Zusammengehö- rens erzeugt man nicht, indem man einen Schalter umlegt. Zusammenwachsen 15 Programmkalender Juni 18 ist Arbeit. Es erfordert die Bereitschaft, interessiert auf den anderen zuzugehen, zuzuhören und auch die eigene Sichtweise infrage zu stellen. Genau das tun un- sere Landeskorrespondentinnen und -korrespondenten auch. Sender der Länder 78 Spezial zu sein bedeutet nämlich nicht nur, nah an den Menschen in der eigenen Region Alles rund um die Fußball-WM zu sein, sondern auch den Hörerinnen und Hörern in Aachen zu erklären, warum 79 Lange Nacht ein Thema aus Görlitz auch für sie Relevanz hat. Und den Nutzerinnen in Bremen Sprachwurzellos zu erklären, was die Nutzer in Konstanz bewegt.
    [Show full text]
  • Circling Opera in Berlin by Paul Martin Chaikin B.A., Grinnell College
    Circling Opera in Berlin By Paul Martin Chaikin B.A., Grinnell College, 2001 A.M., Brown University, 2004 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Program in the Department of Music at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island May 2010 This dissertation by Paul Martin Chaikin is accepted in its present form by the Department of Music as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date_______________ _________________________________ Rose Rosengard Subotnik, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council Date_______________ _________________________________ Jeff Todd Titon, Reader Date_______________ __________________________________ Philip Rosen, Reader Date_______________ __________________________________ Dana Gooley, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date_______________ _________________________________ Sheila Bonde, Dean of the Graduate School ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Deutsche Akademische Austauch Dienst (DAAD) for funding my fieldwork in Berlin. I am also grateful to the Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Medienwissenschaft at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for providing me with an academic affiliation in Germany, and to Prof. Dr. Christian Kaden for sponsoring my research proposal. I am deeply indebted to the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden for welcoming me into the administrative thicket that sustains operatic culture in Berlin. I am especially grateful to Francis Hüsers, the company’s director of artistic affairs and chief dramaturg, and to Ilse Ungeheuer, the former coordinator of the dramaturgy department. I would also like to thank Ronny Unganz and Sabine Turner for leading me to secret caches of quantitative data. Throughout this entire ordeal, Rose Rosengard Subotnik has been a superlative academic advisor and a thoughtful mentor; my gratitude to her is beyond measure.
    [Show full text]
  • Richard Strauss
    RICHARD STRAUSS: The Origin, Dissemination and Reception of his Mozart Renaissance Raymond lIolden I I \,--,~/ PhD Goldsmiths' College University of London 1 Abstract Richard Strauss holds an important place in the history of performance. Of the major musical figures active during the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, his endeavours as a Mozartian are of particular importance. Strauss' special interest in the works of Mozart was seminal to both his performance and compositional aesthetics. As a result of this affinity, Strauss consciously set out to initiate a Mozart renaissance that embodied a precise set of principles and reforms. It was these principles and reforms, described as literalist, rather than those of artists such .as Gustav Mahler, who edited Mozart's works both musically and dramatically, that found further expression in the readings of, amongst others, Otto Klemperer, George Szell, Sir John Pritchard and Wolfgang Sawallisch. It is the aim of this dissertation to investigate Strauss' activities as a Mozartian and to assess his influence on subsequent generations of Mozart conductors. Accordingly, the dissertation is divided into an Introduction, five chapters, a Conclusion and thirteen appendices. These consider both the nature and ramifications of Strauss' reforms and performance aesthetic. Within this framework, the breadth of his renaissance; his choice of edition, cuts and revisions; his use of tempo, as a means of structural delineation; his activities with respect to the
    [Show full text]
  • Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg on Stage in the Weimar Republic
    This is a repository copy of Displacement, repetition and repression : Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on stage in the Weimar Republic. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/122212/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Sheil, Aine Catherine orcid.org/0000-0001-6890-3204 (2018) Displacement, repetition and repression : Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on stage in the Weimar Republic. Cambridge Opera Journal. pp. 117-151. ISSN 0954-5867 https://doi.org/10.1017/S095458671700012X Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Displacement, repetition and repression: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on stage in the Weimar Republic Áine Sheil Abstract Relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to the performance and reception history of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg during the Weimar Republic (1919-33), but as this article will demonstrate, the opera played an indispensable role in the repertories of Weimar opera houses. Despite an evident desire on the part of some Weimar directors and designers of Die Meistersinger to draw on staging innovations of the time, productions of the work from this period are characterised by scenic conservatism and repetition of familiar naturalistic imagery.
    [Show full text]
  • „Und Spurlos Verschollen Ist Hiervon Die Tradition“
    „Und spurlos verschollen ist hiervon die Tradition“ Die Aufführungs- und Rezeptionsgeschichte von Mozarts Jupiter-Sinfonie im Prisma der Wagnerschen Dirigier- und Interpretationsästhetik bis zum Einsetzen der historisch informierten Aufführungspraxis Inauguraldissertation an der Philosophisch-historischen Fakultät der Universität Bern zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde vorgelegt von Christoph Moor Promotionsdatum: Freitag, 18. Oktober 2019 eingereicht bei Prof. Dr. Anselm Gerhard, Institut für Musikwissenschaft der Universität Bern und Dr. Chris Walton, Forschungsschwerpunkt Interpretation der Hochschule der Künste Bern Christoph Moor Laufenburgerstrasse 30 4058 Basel 07-066-566 Bern, den 14. Juli 2019 Originaldokument gespeichert auf dem Webserver der Universitätsbibliothek Bern Dieses Werk ist unter einem Creative Commons Namensnennung-Keine kommerzielle Nutzung-Keine Bearbeitung 2.5 Schweiz Lizenzvertrag lizenziert. Um die Lizenz anzusehen, gehen Sie bitte zu http://creativecommons.org/li- censes/by-nc-nd/2.5/ch/ oder schicken Sie einen Brief an Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California 94105, USA. Urheberrechtlicher Hinweis Dieses Dokument steht unter einer Lizenz der Creative Commons Namensnennung-Keine kommerzielle Nutzung-Keine Bearbeitung 2.5 Schweiz. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ch/ Sie dürfen: dieses Werk vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen Zu den folgenden Bedingungen: Namensnennung. Sie müssen den Namen des Autors/Rechteinhabers in der von ihm festgelegten Weise nennen (wodurch aber nicht der Eindruck entstehen darf, Sie oder die Nutzung des Werkes durch Sie würden entlohnt). Keine kommerzielle Nutzung. Dieses Werk darf nicht für kommerzielle Zwecke verwendet werden. Keine Bearbeitung. Dieses Werk darf nicht bearbeitet oder in anderer Weise verändert werden. Im Falle einer Verbreitung müssen Sie anderen die Lizenzbedingungen, unter welche dieses Werk fällt, mitteilen.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Oral History Office the Bancroft Library University Of
    Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California S6ndor Salgo TEACHING MUSIC AT STANFORD, 1949-1974, DIRECTING THE CARMEL BACH FESTIVAL AND THE MARIN SYMPHONY, 1956-1991 With an Introduction by Robert P. Commanday Interviews Conducted by Caroline C. Crawford in 1994-1996 Copyright 0 1999 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. All uses of this manuscript are covered by legal agreements between The Regents of the University of California and SQndor Salgo and Patricia Salgo dated October 26, 1995, and February 15, 1996, respectively. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • Die Meistersinger, New York City, and the Metropolitan Opera: the Intersection of Art and Politics During Two World Wars
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2016 Die Meistersinger, New York City, and the Metropolitan Opera: The Intersection of Art and Politics During Two World Wars Gwen L. D'Amico Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1221 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] DIE MEISTERSINGER, NEW YORK CITY, AND THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND POLITICS DURING TWO WORLD WARS by GWEN D’AMICO A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Musicology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2016 ii © 2016 Gwen D’Amico All Rights Reserved iii Die Meistersinger, New York City, and The Metropolitan Opera: The Intersection of Art and Politics During Two World Wars By Gwen D’Amico This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Music in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""__________________________________" Date Norman Carey " " " " " " " Chair of Examining Committee ______________________"""""""""" " " _____________________________________" Date Norman Carey " " " " " " " Executive Officer Supervisory Committee Allan Atlas, Advisor Bruce MacIntyre, First Reader Nicholas Vazsonyi THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv ABSTRACT Die Meistersinger, New York City, and The Metropolitan Opera: The Intersection of Art and Politics During Two World Wars By Gwen D’Amico Advisor: Professor Allan Atlas In 1945, after a five-year hiatus, the Metropolitan Opera returned Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg to its stage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Reception and Performance of Classical
    Beethoven as “Paradigmatic Socialist Warrior”: The Reception and Performance of Classical Music in the GDR Word Count: 18,601 Daniel Shao April 17th, 2020 Seminar Advisor: Natasha Lightfoot Second Reader: Victoria Phillips 1 Table of Contents: Acknowledgements 2 Abbreviations 3 Images 4 Introduction 5 Chapter 1. Interpreting the Canon: Musicology and Late Socialism 15 Chapter 2. Programming the Canon: Performance and Censorship 36 Chapter 3. Performing the Canon: The Case of Kurt Masur 51 Conclusion: 74 Bibliography: 77 2 Acknowledgements: I feel obliged to acknowledge all of my mentors and peers who have supported me through the entire thesis-writing process, who have all given me a great deal of support without asking for anything in return. Firstly, I would like to thank Professor Lightfoot for her helpful and detailed feedback over the course of the year, as well as her accomodation of my request to informally remain in her seminar despite some scheduling conflicts second semester. Of course, I would not have been able to do this project without the help of Professor Berghahn, who kindly came out of retirement to offer me suggestions for secondary source reading and archives to visit. Besides Professor Berghahn, I am also grateful to Professor Tooze, Mazower, and Kaye for their help, not only in helping me plan out this thesis, but also in giving me valuable advice for my graduate school applications this year. I would not be the aspiring historian I am today without their mentorship over the course of my undergraduate studies. I would also like to thank my second reader, Professor Victoria Phillips, for her detailed feedback, which she happily provided despite her extremely busy schedule this semester.
    [Show full text]
  • Caruso in Berlin
    CARUSO IN BERLIN Es war schon ein besonderer Tag im Leben der Königlichen Hofoper Unter den Linden, jener 9. Oktober 1906. Kein Geringerer als Enrico Caruso, der weltberühmte Tenor, sang erstmals im damals renommiertesten Musiktheater des deutschen Kaiserreichs. Dies ist nun also genau 90 Jahre her, Grund genug, sich zu erinnern. Enrico Caruso wird am 25. Februar 1873 in Neapel geboren. Sein Geburtshaus steht noch heute, völlig unverändert, in der Via San Giovanni e Paolo, einer kleinen Gasse in einem übervölkerten Arbeiterviertel am Rande der Stadt. Er entstammt einer armen Familie. Sein Vater Marcellino arbeitet in der Jute-Industrie, die Mutter Anna ist zu Hause. Sie hat bereits 17 Totgeburten hinter sich, als Enrico geboren wird. Schmutz, Überbevölkerung und Epidemien führten in Neapel zu hoher Kindersterblichkeit. Der Arzt, der die Mutter wegen ihrer schlechten Gesundheit häufig besucht, Dr. Nicola, hat eine Schwester, deren Passion das Klavierspiel und der Gesang sind. Die Arztrechnung muss mangels baren Geldes in Naturalien bezahlt werden, und zwar mit Mozzarella, den der kleine Enrico in der Küche der Schwester abliefert. Die gibt auch Gesangsunterricht, und so kommt es, dass er oft an der Tür lauscht und heimlich die Tonleitern und Übungen nachsingt. Einmal hört ihn Signorina Nicola, staunt nicht schlecht über seine schöne Stimme und gibt ihm kostenlos Stunden. Später verdient er sich ein paar Lire damit, dass er im Auftrag verliebter junger Männer ein Ständchen unter den Fenstern ihrer Angebeteten singt. Noch später, nachdem eine Zeit als Fabrikarbeiter hinter ihm liegt, nimmt er wieder Unterricht und steht 1887 erstmals auf einer richtigen Bühne. 1889, nach seinem Stimmbruch, singt er neapolitanische canconi im Musikcafé.
    [Show full text]
  • Socialism and Feminism in East German Opera: the Cases of Director Ruth Berghaus and Composer Ruth Zechlin
    SOCIALISM AND FEMINISM IN EAST GERMAN OPERA: THE CASES OF DIRECTOR RUTH BERGHAUS AND COMPOSER RUTH ZECHLIN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Johanna Frances Yunker August 2012 © 2012 by Johanna Frances Yunker. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/wy750kv5448 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Stephen Hinton, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Thomas Grey I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Heather Hadlock I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Jesse Rodin Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives.
    [Show full text]