Investigating new models for opera development

This thesis is a culmination of an AHRC funded collaborative doctoral award between the Centre for Research in Opera and Music Theatre at Sussex University and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The research took the form of a Composer in Residence scheme in 2006-9 and the submission consists of three new operatic projects, Followers, The Yellow Sofa and Knight Crew. The thesis takes the form of a series of four case studies which explore the creative and aesthetic resonances of the above works in addition to a study of Péter Eötvös’s new opera Love and Other Demons, commissioned by Glyndebourne for the 2008 Festival. The exploration of all four case studies is intended to offer a range of possible models for the future development of the operatic art form. The central creative research questions of this project relate broadly to questions of context and the reanimation of tradition. In terms of context, each of these four operatic case studies considers the perspective of the commissioning opera company, of the creative team, of singers and instrumentalists and of audiences. In terms of the reanimation of tradition, this research considers ideas around narrativity in opera and the centrality of the operatic voice and operatic lyricism. The polystylistic nature of opera is just one of several other themes that emerge as a consequence of this research. The thesis lays out each case study in chronological order beginning with an introductory chapter that describes the terms of the residency. Chapter Two considers the site-specific promenade opera Followers, Chapter Three examines the gestation of Péter Eötvös’s new opera Love and Other Demons, Chapter Four details the chamber opera The Yellow Sofa developed as part of Glyndebourne’s Jerwood Chorus Development Scheme, while Chapter Five projects the central themes of this research onto a larger-scale, grand operatic canvas in a community-specific context. A final Chapter Six concludes with a sketch for a new operatic aesthetic, which attempts to synthesise the creative and research experience of this composer residency.