Fairy-tale opera and the crossed desires of words and music

Stephen Benson

doi:10.1080/07494467.2010.534925

Fairy-tale opera and the crossed desires of words and music

Stephen Benson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This article considers the idea of contemporary fairy-tale opera, looking in particular at In the House of Crossed Desires (1996), composed by John Woolrich to a libretto by Marina Warner. At the heart of the genre lies a singular crossing of desires: the desire for transformation, expressed and enacted in the fairy tale, and the yearning that is voiced in the impassioned song of opera. Fairy-tale opera thus represents one version of opera's ongoing play with the dramatic crossing of words and music.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	171-182
Number of pages	12
Journal	Contemporary Music Review
Volume	29
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/07494467.2010.534925
Publication status	Published - 2010

Access to Document

10.1080/07494467.2010.534925

Cite this

@article{f5fdddfd33424f42aafd0216e8fe0f7e,

title = "Fairy-tale opera and the crossed desires of words and music",

abstract = "This article considers the idea of contemporary fairy-tale opera, looking in particular at In the House of Crossed Desires (1996), composed by John Woolrich to a libretto by Marina Warner. At the heart of the genre lies a singular crossing of desires: the desire for transformation, expressed and enacted in the fairy tale, and the yearning that is voiced in the impassioned song of opera. Fairy-tale opera thus represents one version of opera's ongoing play with the dramatic crossing of words and music.",

author = "Stephen Benson",

year = "2010",

doi = "10.1080/07494467.2010.534925",

language = "English",

volume = "29",

pages = "171--182",

journal = "Contemporary Music Review",

issn = "0749-4467",

publisher = "Routledge",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fairy-tale opera and the crossed desires of words and music

AU - Benson, Stephen

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - This article considers the idea of contemporary fairy-tale opera, looking in particular at In the House of Crossed Desires (1996), composed by John Woolrich to a libretto by Marina Warner. At the heart of the genre lies a singular crossing of desires: the desire for transformation, expressed and enacted in the fairy tale, and the yearning that is voiced in the impassioned song of opera. Fairy-tale opera thus represents one version of opera's ongoing play with the dramatic crossing of words and music.

AB - This article considers the idea of contemporary fairy-tale opera, looking in particular at In the House of Crossed Desires (1996), composed by John Woolrich to a libretto by Marina Warner. At the heart of the genre lies a singular crossing of desires: the desire for transformation, expressed and enacted in the fairy tale, and the yearning that is voiced in the impassioned song of opera. Fairy-tale opera thus represents one version of opera's ongoing play with the dramatic crossing of words and music.

U2 - 10.1080/07494467.2010.534925

DO - 10.1080/07494467.2010.534925

M3 - Article

SN - 0749-4467

VL - 29

SP - 171

EP - 182

JO - Contemporary Music Review

JF - Contemporary Music Review

IS - 2

ER -