The modern travel itineraries of opera characters
The paper focuses on the current reception of the phenomenon of travel/pilgrimage in operatic works. The phenomenon is examined using the examples of the contemporaryproductions of classical operas which are rooted in ancient or national mythology: the story of the mythical poet and musician Orpheus (Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo), the Russian guslar Sadko (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko), and the restless and idealistic Norwegian lad Peer Gynt (Werner Egk: Peer Gynt). By analysing the selected directorial interpretations, the authoress seeks answer to the question to what extent, if any, modern opera directors give happy endings to the pilgrimages of their opera heroes.
More...