N. N.
Operetta Research Center
29 April, 2018
British researchers are continuing their conference series Gaiety, Glitz and Glamour. For the next installment at the School of Music, University of Leeds, from 10 to 12 January 2019, they’ve added “Dispirited Historical Dregs? A Re-evaluation of Operetta” to the title. Researchers from all over the world are invited to submit proposals for papers, the deadline is 15 September 2018.
John Gilbert as Danilo, seducing May Murray in Erich von Stroheim’s “The Merry Widow,” 1925. (Photo: Staatsoperette Dresden)
It’s an international conference in affiliation with the project German Operetta in London, New York and Warsaw, 1906–1939, funded by the European Research Council.
The official press release states: “In 1903, in an early attempt to write a critical history of operetta, Erich Urban perceived a common thread linking international manifestations of operetta. He was optimistic about its future, insisting that operetta had its own justification, meaning and history. Barely thirty years later, Theodor Adorno condemned operetta as a musical genre containing only dispirited historical dregs. In recent years, operetta has enjoyed renewed interest among musicologists in various countries. This conference aims to reassess operetta and engage with present scholarship.”
Promotion picture for “Alles Schwindel” at Gorki Theater, with Vidina Popov and Jonas Dassler. (Photo: Esra Rotthoff)
The organizers “warmly invite proposals relating to nineteenth- and twentieth-century operetta, on topics such as: operettas and social and moral values; audience reception of operetta; the transfer and adaptation of operetta across borders; operetta and politics; the business of operetta; screen operettas; new possibilities for operetta as more of its music enters the public domain.”
Abstracts of 300 words should be sent to Derek B. Scott derekbscott@gmail.com or Anastasia Belina anastasia.belina@rcm.ac.uk.
Please include your name and affiliation (or independent status). Notification of acceptance will be sent by 31 October 2018.
The keynote speaker at the 2019 conference is Dr. Kevin Clarke from the Operetta Research Center. He will talk about “Operettas as Safe Space” (for LGBT people, for WW2 survivors et al.)
For more information, click here.