Opera Opposed to Opera: "Così fan tutte" and "Fidelio" Author(s): Edward W. Said Source: Profession, (1998), pp. 23-29 Published by: Modern Language Association Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25595634 Accessed: 05-02-2020 22:38 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Profession This content downloaded from 128.32.10.230 on Wed, 05 Feb 2020 22:38:35 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Opera Opposed to Opera: Cosi fan tutte and Fidelio EDWARD W. SAID The topic of influence and its anxieties, so rich in the history of literature, is less discussed in the history of music. Certainly the intimidating and in hibiting effect of Ludwig van Beethoven's Nine on subsequent symphon ists (Brahms, Mahler, Bruckner) is much referred to, but the dynamics of an active, energizing struggle with an antecedent both disliked and re spected have not often received much attention. This is a pity, since the case I want to consider here helps us make more sense of two popular and yet very problematic operas, one that I believe follows the other with consider able agitation.