Ru
EnO. Kushnir
Opera performance as a project: “Contract for Pulcinella with Orchestra, or Entry for Unauthorized Persons is Allowed”
At the beginning of the 21st century, pasticcio operas created by theatre directors appear on the world opera stages. “The Contract for Pulcinella with Orchestra, or Entry for Unauthorized Persons is Allowed” is the ordinary project by Mikhail Kislyarov in this genre. The features of the organization of the “Contract” into a single performance became the object of study in the article. The secondary work was put together by the director from fragments of music from Pergolesi’s operas “The Music Teacher”, “Livietta and Traccolo” and Stravinsky’s ballet “Pulcinella”. By the nature of the borrowed musical text, this project reflects the traditions of the pasticcio genre. The libretto of the “Contract”, written in Russian, preserves the content of borrowed primary sources, what is not typical for pasticcio tradition and demonstrates an original director’s interpretation of the genre.
The opera consists of two acts and fifty-four fragments. The composer violates an original order of numbers of the primary sources, with their characteristic dramaturgy development. New order, proposed by M. Kislyarov, activates the principle of non-linear narration. Almost simultaneous presentation of two different plots in the “Contract” demonstrates the features of parallel narrative. The method of musical fragments connecting is similar to the montage technique. Due to the arches and skillfully constructed dramaturgy, the composition of the opera is organic. It corresponds with the concept of inter-textuality, fully established in postmodernism and covering various art forms.
Key words
opera pasticcio, compilation, M. Kislyarov, non-linear narration, montage dramaturgy, director’s opera project.
For citation
Kushnir O. Opera performance as a project: “Contract for Pulcinella with Orchestra, or Entry for Unauthorized Persons is Allowed” // South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2021. No. 3. Pp. 53–62.
