Singing in Signs

Abstract

Abstract Singing in Signs is a collection of essays from prominent opera scholars that explores the rich interplay of symbols in the operatic genre, while simultaneously providing perspective on the state of opera study. Each author, whether explicitly or implicitly, uses the powerful tools of semiotics (the study of signs) to construct interpretations and discover relationships among music, lyrics, and drama. Authors in this collection use a combination of traditional and emerging methodologies to engage composer-constructed and work-specific music-semiotic systems, broader sociocultural music codes, and narrative strategies. Many of the essays have implications for performance and staging. Singing in Signs answers the call—through the lens of semiotics—to embrace opera on its own terms and to engage all of its constituent elements in interpretation. The purpose of the present volume is to “resurrect” serious musical study of opera—not because it has not been taking place—but in a larger sense as a multifaceted, interpretive discipline, by collecting some of these efforts in one volume. The essays here focus on the musical, dramatic, cultural, and performative in opera and demonstrate how these modes can create an intertext that informs interpretation. Operas explored in this volume span the late Baroque period through the present day, including composers from Handel to Wagner to Britten.