TOWARD DEFINING TRADITION: A STATISTICAL AND NETWORK ANALYSIS OF GIACOMO PUCCINI’S TURANDOT AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA By JOSHUA ORIN NEUMANN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2016 © 2016 Joshua Orin Neumann In memory of Professor Scott Nygren, and in honor of all who made this possible. Soli Deo Gloria. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My personal interests in this dissertation stem primarily from the juxtaposition of my love of opera, an undying interest in “how” things come to be, my desire to form relationships with the performers who create beauty in opera houses and concert halls, and an ironic and idiosyncratic penchant for numbers and data. I thank my wife Lindsey, whose constant support and encouragement lit the many late nights necessary for completing this dissertation. I also thank my parents and siblings, from whom I learned the values of patience, dedication, and perseverance, for their support and curiosity, which has been a source of inspiration for clarity of explanation. I am indebted to Sara Vellutini, Paolo Nuti, Carmen da Prato, and Simonetta Puccini for enhancing my understanding of Puccini’s life and the culture in which and for which he composed so many beautiful melodies. This dissertation would not be possible without assistance from the staff at the New York Public Library’s Rodgers and Hammerstein of Recorded Sound, and the Archives of the Metropolitan Opera. I am also thankful to Marcello Giordani, Andréa Gruber, Stephen Costello, Kristin Lewis, and Alberto Veronesi for granting interviews that have helped foster a more nuanced understanding of the creative process and its relationship to tradition. I am grateful for the support and insights of my friends and colleagues, especially Matthew Franke, Morgan Rich, Christy Thomas, Michael Vincent, and Oren Vinogradov. My committee members Mark Katz, Scott Nygren, Tony Offerle, Jane Southworth, Jennifer Thomas, and David Waybright have all greatly influenced me along this journey. Each has offered unique insight and pushed me to think about my work in a variety of ways and to make it widely accessible. Finally, I offer my most hearty thanks to my advisor, Margaret Butler, without whose unyielding support, insight, 4 guidance, and constant encouragement of multivalence in analytical technique and communication this document would not exist. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 10 LIST OF OBJECTS ....................................................................................................... 15 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 16 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS TRADITION? ............................................................. 19 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................... 19 Tradition’s Origins ................................................................................................... 25 Tradition’s Characteristics ....................................................................................... 29 Challenges to Understanding Tradition ................................................................... 40 2 CASE STUDY PARAMETERS AND METHODS .................................................... 45 Case Study Parameters .......................................................................................... 46 Turandot: A Brief Overview .............................................................................. 46 Turandot’s Technoshpere................................................................................. 47 Place and Time ................................................................................................ 58 Musical Moments for Investigation ................................................................... 65 Musical Phenomena for Investigation ............................................................... 70 Case Study Methods............................................................................................... 75 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 88 3 PROFILING PERFORMANCE VIA TEMPO HIERARCHY ANALYSIS ................... 90 Rethinking Musical Objects ..................................................................................... 90 Scores, Performances, and Works ................................................................... 91 New Musical Objects for Discourse ................................................................ 100 Reading an Operatic Time Scape ......................................................................... 101 Analysis of Tempo Hierarchies From 4 March, 1961 ............................................ 104 Analysis of Tempo Hierarchies From 7 November 2009 ....................................... 119 Further Examples in Textualizing Performance .................................................... 135 “Signore, ascolta!” .......................................................................................... 135 “Non Piangere, Liù!” ....................................................................................... 137 “In questa reggia” ........................................................................................... 140 6 “Straniero, ascolta!” ........................................................................................ 143 “Nessun dorma!” ............................................................................................. 146 “Tu che di gel sei cinta” .................................................................................. 150 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 152 4 QUANTITATIVE AND CHRONOLOGICALLY-BASED MODELS OF TRADITION .......................................................................................................... 156 “Signore, ascolta!” ................................................................................................. 158 1960s.............................................................................................................. 158 1970s.............................................................................................................. 165 1980s.............................................................................................................. 168 1990s.............................................................................................................. 172 2000s.............................................................................................................. 177 “Non piangere, Liù” ............................................................................................... 182 “Tu che di gel sei cinta” ......................................................................................... 196 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 201 5 QUANTITATIVE AND DEMOGRAPHIC-BASED MODELS OF TRADITION ........ 203 “In Questa Reggia” in Two Productions ................................................................ 204 The Beaton Production ................................................................................... 205 The Zeffirelli Production.................................................................................. 209 “Straniero, ascolta!” .............................................................................................. 214 “Nessun dorma!” ................................................................................................... 220 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 225 6 CORRELATION NETWORK ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE AND TRADITION .......................................................................................................... 228 Overview ............................................................................................................... 228 “Signore, ascolta!” ................................................................................................. 230 “Non piangere, Liù” ............................................................................................... 236 “In questa Reggia” ................................................................................................ 241 “Straniero, ascolta!” .............................................................................................. 246 “Nessun dorma” .................................................................................................... 252 “Tu che di gel sei cinta” ......................................................................................... 255 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 258 7 CONCLUSIONS AND