Digital Scenography in Opera in the Twenty-First Century

Digital Scenography in Opera in the Twenty-First Century is the first definitive study of the use of digital scenography in Western opera production. The book begins by exploring digital scenography’s dramaturgical possibilities and establishes a critical framework for identifying and comparing the use of digital scenography across different digitally enhanced opera productions. The book then investigates the impacts and potential disruptions of digital scenography on opera’s longstanding production conventions, both on and off the stage. Drawing on interviews with major industry practitioners, including Paul Barritt, Mark Grimmer, Donald Holder, Elaine J. McCarthy, Luke Halls, Wendall K. Harrington, Finn Ross, S. Katy Tucker, and Victoria ‘Vita’ Tzykun, author Caitlin Vincent identifies key correlations between the use of digital scenography in practice and subsequent impacts on creative hierarchies, production design processes, and organisational management. The book features detailed case studies of digitally enhanced productions premiered by Dutch National Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Opéra de Lyon, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, The Metropolitan Opera, Victorian Opera, and Washington National Opera.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter One – Digitally-enhanced opera in the twenty-first century and the modes of synthesis Chapter Two – Digitally-enhanced opera in the twenty-first century and the variants of causal interplay Chapter Three – The lineage of digital scenography: Baroque origins to the twentieth century Chapter Four – The lineage of digital scenography: multimedia opera in the twentieth century Chapter Five – The projection designer and evolving creative hierarchies in opera Chapter Six – Digital scenography and evolving production design processes in opera Conclusion Bibliography Introduction to digital scenography in opera What is digital scenography? Why opera? Research methods The modes of synthesis Examples of practice Interviews Chapter outline References Chapter One – A new classification system for digital scenography: the modes of synthesis Articulating the modes of synthesis: non-synthesis, partial-synthesis, and full- synthesis Non-synthesis—San Francisco Opera, The Magic Flute (2012) Partial-synthesis—Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, The Magic Flute (2005) Full-synthesis—Komische Oper Berlin, The Magic Flute (2012) A comparison of critical responses to the three productions Conclusion References Chapter Two – The variants of causal interplay Agency: the screen as ‘performer’ Dutch National Opera, The Magic Flute (2012)—partial-synthesis Victorian Opera, Four Saints in Three Acts (2016)—partial-synthesis Augmentation: extension and transformation through digitalisation The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Don Giovanni (2014)—partial-synthesis Victorian Opera, The Flying Dutchman (2015)—partial-synthesis Full-synthesis extremes of agency and augmentation Opéra de Lyon, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (2016)—full-synthesis Autonomy: faux-interactivity versus functional interactivity The Metropolitan Opera, Das Rheingold (2010)—partial-synthesis Implications for performers and audiences References Chapter Three – The lineage of digital scenography in opera: Baroque origins to the twentieth century The origins of the Baroque opera paradigm The Baroque paradigm and the interplay between performer, stage setting, and spectator New perspectives: the scenic reforms of Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena (1657–1743) The scenographic transition to ‘grand opera’ The ‘mystic chasm’: Richard Wagner (1813–1883) and the Bayreuth Festspielhaus Adolphe Appia (1862–1928) and dynamic light Looking towards the twentieth century References Chapter Four – The lineage of digital scenography in opera: multimedia developments in the twentieth century Avant-garde origins Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966) and Enrico Prampolini (1894–1956): ‘a thousand scenes in one’ and ‘luminous forms’ Josef Svoboda (1920–2002) and the dynamic setting of the Laterna Magika The Tales of Hoffmann (1962) Günther Schneider-Siemssen (1926–2015) and the holograms of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre The Tales of Hoffmann (1985) Looking towards the twenty-first century References Chapter Five – The projection designer and evolving creative hierarchies Industry recognition and acknowledgement The traditional theatrical hierarchy: director as ultimate authority The lateral hierarchy: collective directorate Hierarchical variation: projection designers as the directorial authority The evolving role of the projection designer References Chapter Six – Digital scenography and evolving production design processes A benchmark of organisational and funding models The twentieth-century standard for production design Washington National Opera’s Das Rheingold (2016)—non-synthesis Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie’s The Magic Flute (2005)—partial-synthesis Dutch National Opera’s The Magic Flute (2012)—partial-synthesis Santa Fe Opera’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2017)—non-synthesis Komische Oper Berlin’s The Magic Flute (2012)—full-synthesis Commonalities across the five production design processes Production design processes and the modes of synthesis References Conclusion – The future evolution of digital scenography References Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3