04-16-2005, 01:17 AM
Hi All,
Well, firstly I must confess that I am not a reenactor but I am a fan of reenactment (when we were in the UK I thoroughly enjoyed the English Heritage Living History events.) I must also confess that I am an academic - teaching at Sydney University and doing a PhD in didactic military literature and castramentation. I am also an opera singer. I also lecture in opera history - mostly to adult education groups.
And so it was a very brave move last week that I gave a paper to an academic audience at the university entitled 'Singing Nero's Praise' arguing that opera can offer historical insight into figures and events from history and into historical interpretation. Basically my point is that opera was composed by individuals who were for the most part highly educated and in many instances its librettos were written by the intellectuals of the day (John Dryden for instance). Thus they show us how history was interpreted at the time and (within the constraints of the genre) how it could be used. It also offers insight into the history of the time of the opera's composition. Fascinating stuff.
Opera therefore offers us an insight into how the ancient world has been interpreted from the 17th century onwards. It can also show us how the ancient world is still interpreted outside academic halls. To paraphrase Viventius - modern opera productions enhance my understanding of the past even if the authenticity of what I see is dubious, it still engages my brain on some level. Without going into exactly what I argued I will tell you that most in my audience (I think) enjoyed my paper and only a couple gave me the withering academic glances they spend years perfecting to suggest that I was wasting their time. One said that he failed to see how opera could help us understand history.
There are open minded and closed minded individuals in all professions and I think if people are unwilling to engage in new methods of understanding that is their problem and their loss. (Of course this is not how I phrased it at the paper!) What I said to them was that last year I had the opportunity to perform the lead role in Guiseppe Verdi's Opera Attila and I would like to think that I brought some degree of historical understanding to the role of Attila the Hun. What is more, singing the role gave me historical insight in a way a book (or even watching a film) never could, despite the fact that several of the incidents in the opera plot are unhistorical. You see, I commanded a hunnic army (well most of the male chorus were in their sixties but I suspended disbelief!), uncharacteristically fell in love with Odabella, and wheeled and dealed with a turncoat Roman general. Like Charlton Heston's comment on 'reenacting' taking Seville (?) 'I know what it is to take a city', reenacting or performing can give you a sense of history in the way that academia cannot and so it is a valuable resource.
There are those in the academic community who recognise the value of openminded engagement with new/different modes of research - I always refer my students to the (apocraphal?) story of the four pommel saddle and academics arguing that no Roman cavalryman could charge with lance couched - cue reenactor in background demonstrating practically that it could easily be done.
In these postmodern days there are academics who use every resource available to them - the number of works analysing the interpretative use of film on history is just one instance. No one else seems to have tapped into the opera market!
The ironic thing is that I will be presenting the paper again - this time to my opera audience who I think will be far more willing to engage with the material I present - lovers of any subject are always more willing to see its relevance everywhere than those who are not - this is something we also have to bear in mind whether we be reenactors or opera singers!
As I dismount from my high horse rant I apologise for the length of my post.
Cheers
Murray
Well, firstly I must confess that I am not a reenactor but I am a fan of reenactment (when we were in the UK I thoroughly enjoyed the English Heritage Living History events.) I must also confess that I am an academic - teaching at Sydney University and doing a PhD in didactic military literature and castramentation. I am also an opera singer. I also lecture in opera history - mostly to adult education groups.
And so it was a very brave move last week that I gave a paper to an academic audience at the university entitled 'Singing Nero's Praise' arguing that opera can offer historical insight into figures and events from history and into historical interpretation. Basically my point is that opera was composed by individuals who were for the most part highly educated and in many instances its librettos were written by the intellectuals of the day (John Dryden for instance). Thus they show us how history was interpreted at the time and (within the constraints of the genre) how it could be used. It also offers insight into the history of the time of the opera's composition. Fascinating stuff.
Opera therefore offers us an insight into how the ancient world has been interpreted from the 17th century onwards. It can also show us how the ancient world is still interpreted outside academic halls. To paraphrase Viventius - modern opera productions enhance my understanding of the past even if the authenticity of what I see is dubious, it still engages my brain on some level. Without going into exactly what I argued I will tell you that most in my audience (I think) enjoyed my paper and only a couple gave me the withering academic glances they spend years perfecting to suggest that I was wasting their time. One said that he failed to see how opera could help us understand history.
There are open minded and closed minded individuals in all professions and I think if people are unwilling to engage in new methods of understanding that is their problem and their loss. (Of course this is not how I phrased it at the paper!) What I said to them was that last year I had the opportunity to perform the lead role in Guiseppe Verdi's Opera Attila and I would like to think that I brought some degree of historical understanding to the role of Attila the Hun. What is more, singing the role gave me historical insight in a way a book (or even watching a film) never could, despite the fact that several of the incidents in the opera plot are unhistorical. You see, I commanded a hunnic army (well most of the male chorus were in their sixties but I suspended disbelief!), uncharacteristically fell in love with Odabella, and wheeled and dealed with a turncoat Roman general. Like Charlton Heston's comment on 'reenacting' taking Seville (?) 'I know what it is to take a city', reenacting or performing can give you a sense of history in the way that academia cannot and so it is a valuable resource.
There are those in the academic community who recognise the value of openminded engagement with new/different modes of research - I always refer my students to the (apocraphal?) story of the four pommel saddle and academics arguing that no Roman cavalryman could charge with lance couched - cue reenactor in background demonstrating practically that it could easily be done.
In these postmodern days there are academics who use every resource available to them - the number of works analysing the interpretative use of film on history is just one instance. No one else seems to have tapped into the opera market!
The ironic thing is that I will be presenting the paper again - this time to my opera audience who I think will be far more willing to engage with the material I present - lovers of any subject are always more willing to see its relevance everywhere than those who are not - this is something we also have to bear in mind whether we be reenactors or opera singers!
As I dismount from my high horse rant I apologise for the length of my post.
Cheers
Murray
Murray K Dahm
Moderator
\'\'\'\'No matter how many you kill, you cannot kill your successor\'\'\'\' - Seneca to Nero - Dio 62
\'\'\'\'There is no way of correcting wrongdoing in those who think that the height of virtue consists in the execution of their will\'\'\'\' - Ammianus Marcellinus 27.7.9
Moderator
\'\'\'\'No matter how many you kill, you cannot kill your successor\'\'\'\' - Seneca to Nero - Dio 62
\'\'\'\'There is no way of correcting wrongdoing in those who think that the height of virtue consists in the execution of their will\'\'\'\' - Ammianus Marcellinus 27.7.9
