Page 175 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
P. 175
oi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-50-4.173-182
“Spectacular” challenges of opera
in the 21st century
Jacques Amblard
Univerza Aix-Marseille
Aix-Marseille University
Since the late 1990s, one can notice a partial fusion between adult and child-
ish worlds. This will occupy a first part. There are signs of this societal shift
in opera from the 2000s and later. However, these playful themes could be
simple symptoms of new stakes in opera, typically postmodern: the spec-
tacular. And this will take us to an enlargement. Our new century perhaps
gives the opera a privileged place, again, in the career of some composers.
Some, like Tan Dun, or Kaija Saariaho, true heralds and heroes of globali-
zation, gained international fame, in large part, thanks to the opera gen-
re and its particular resonance in the USA. After World War II, the genre,
without being fallen into disuse (thinking about Britten, for instance), was
the victim of the mistrust of some contemporary avant-gardes. This time
may be over.
Postmodern operas and tales
In a brief book1, we began by gathering some references, in psychology, then
sociology, concerning the Western fashion of „staying in childhood“. The
American psychologist Tony Anatrella stigmatized „kidults“ in the 1970s.
His colleague Dan Kiley, in the 1980s, conceived the famous Peter Pan Syn-
drome2. Then, in France, with the new century, the report became gener-
1 Jacques Amblard et Emmanuelle Aymès, Micromusique et ludismes régressifs depuis
2000 (Aix-en-Provence: PUP, 2017).
2 The Peter Pan Syndrom (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1983).
173
“Spectacular” challenges of opera
in the 21st century
Jacques Amblard
Univerza Aix-Marseille
Aix-Marseille University
Since the late 1990s, one can notice a partial fusion between adult and child-
ish worlds. This will occupy a first part. There are signs of this societal shift
in opera from the 2000s and later. However, these playful themes could be
simple symptoms of new stakes in opera, typically postmodern: the spec-
tacular. And this will take us to an enlargement. Our new century perhaps
gives the opera a privileged place, again, in the career of some composers.
Some, like Tan Dun, or Kaija Saariaho, true heralds and heroes of globali-
zation, gained international fame, in large part, thanks to the opera gen-
re and its particular resonance in the USA. After World War II, the genre,
without being fallen into disuse (thinking about Britten, for instance), was
the victim of the mistrust of some contemporary avant-gardes. This time
may be over.
Postmodern operas and tales
In a brief book1, we began by gathering some references, in psychology, then
sociology, concerning the Western fashion of „staying in childhood“. The
American psychologist Tony Anatrella stigmatized „kidults“ in the 1970s.
His colleague Dan Kiley, in the 1980s, conceived the famous Peter Pan Syn-
drome2. Then, in France, with the new century, the report became gener-
1 Jacques Amblard et Emmanuelle Aymès, Micromusique et ludismes régressifs depuis
2000 (Aix-en-Provence: PUP, 2017).
2 The Peter Pan Syndrom (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1983).
173
