Beyond Falstaff in 'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor': Otto Nicolai's Revolutionary 'Wives'

Severn, John R.

doi:10.1093/ml/gcv003

Music and Letters

2015

DOI: 10.1093/ml/gcv003

|View full text |Cite

Beyond Falstaff in 'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor': Otto Nicolai's Revolutionary 'Wives'

John R. Severn¹

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2017

Publication Types

Select...

Article1

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent1

Authors

Journals

Cited by 1 publication

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Opera-Film as Television: Remediation in Tony Britten's Falstaff

Citron¹

2017

Journal of the American Musicological Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tony Britten's film Falstaff (2008) is an unusual, even radical opera-film. An updated treatment with a colloquial English translation and a chamber arrangement, and lacking many operatic elements, the film enacts a remediation of opera-film through the medium of television. Remediation, as conceived by Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin, refers to “the representation of one medium in another,” and its goal “is to refashion or rehabilitate other media.” Britten's Falstaff is strongly influenced by British popular television, especially British situation comedy. Sitcoms that emphasize working-class culture and “lads’ humor”—such as Only Fools and Horses and Men Behaving Badly respectively—resonate conspicuously with this Falstaff. In addition, television features prominently in it by virtue of the fact that protagonist John Falstaff is a former television star. The implications of this remediated opera-film for Verdi and Boito's opera are also of considerable interest. In critical ways associated with music, text, and narrative, the opera is highly suited to Britten's conception. Building on the work of Denise Gallo, I propose that Britten's film marks another moment in the struggle for national ownership of the Merry Wives material. In this sense the film articulates an “Englishizing” of Verdi and Boito's opera. The new kind of opera-film represented by Britten's Falstaff reinforces the idea of “television opera” as a genre that takes advantage of television's medial and aesthetic capabilities, and expands its purview to adaptations as well as new operas.

show abstract

Opera-Film as Television: Remediation in Tony Britten's Falstaff

Citron¹

2017

Journal of the American Musicological Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Beyond Falstaff in 'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor': Otto Nicolai's Revolutionary 'Wives'

Cited by 1 publication

References 9 publications

Opera-Film as Television: Remediation in Tony Britten's Falstaff

Opera-Film as Television: Remediation in Tony Britten's Falstaff

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About