Raymond Warren. Opera Workshop: Studies in Understanding and Interpretation. Aldershot, Hampshire: Scolar Press, 1995. x, 279 pp. ISBN 0-85967- 970-5 (hardcover)

Abstract

Raymond Warren. Opera Workshop: Studies in Understanding and Interpretation. Aldershot, Hampshire: Scolar Press, 1995. x, 279 pp. ISBN 0-85967-970-5 (hardcover). Raymond Warren begins introduction to his, Opera Workshop, with following statement: Much has been written on meaning and history of opera, but comparatively little on how medium actually works ... looking in particular at how their workings are to understood by those involved: singers, conductors and producers (p. viii). Within this context, Warren hopes to provide a 'user's guide' for active participants, as well as a resource book for a general readership of opera lovers. premise behind such a daunting task is intriguing-to work with operatic productions available on videotape, analyzing those things which work and, more importantly, those things which do not. Unfortunately what 'does not,' in this case, is much of book itself. It is not that concept behind book is without merit, or that Warren has nothing of value to say. Quite to contrary, sections of book do contain useful and insightful comments. Other aspects of this volume tend to diminish its value, especially in light of author's stated purpose. Opera Workshop is organized in three broad sections: The Orchestra Supports Singer, The Orchestra Enlarges Stage, and a 'catch-all* section labelled simply Further Studies. Within each section (roughly organized chronologically), specific productions of individual works are examined under a variety of headings. first section, for instance, deals with orchestral support in recitative, aria and ensemble, in a range from Monteverdi's Orfeo to Britten's Peter Grimes. Here, author demonstrates considerable analytic skills. In particular, section examining Mozart's link of recitative to aria in approach to Countess's aria Dove sono is excellent. His analysis of patterns of rhythm and key structure, affective structure of an actor's sub-text contained in Mozart's music, and inevitability of move from accompanied recitative into full aria are all clearly laid out, and in a fashion useful, both to a soprano learning this role, or a stage director approaching, with some trepidation, his first production of Mozart. In a like manner, The Symphonic Dimension in Wagner (found in Part II of book) charts harmonic structure of first scene of Wagner's Das Rheingold Warren's subsequent discussion of leitmotif throughout opera is as clear and concise a discussion of these topics as could be hoped for in a work aimed at a general readership. In other parts of book, author makes a similar contribution. He acknowledges a debt of gratitude for his understanding of opera to Benjamin Britten, and his treatment of various sections of Peter Grimes is excellent. Even when Warren digresses to other works for purposes of comparison or corroboration, these excursions are of value. On other hand, it is lamentable that a scene such as death of Wozzeck should be reduced to one brief paragraph, a concession likely necessary to keep book on a manageable scale. What does not work nearly so well are author's comments on physical staging of opera. Here, Warren displays a layman's appreciation for craft involved; however, his ideas are limited, to say least. When he paraphrases Metastasio's statement on a preference for stage positions that reflect social rank of characters, remarking that these positions were presumably static (p. 5), and concludes from this that, in opera seria, the music simply wasn' t written for demanding realism of twentieth century theatre (p. 5), he ignores a couple of fundamental ideas. First, detailed work that has been done by scholars such as Australia's Dean Barnett has demonstrated that recognition of social rank is not merely a notion of Metastasio, but a standard made necessary by court venue where these works were presented. …