Opera's Second Death

[Dave Monroe]

This just in ...

Zizek, Slavoj and Mladen Dolar.
   Opera's Second Death.  NY: Routledge, 2001.

"Operas are about the meaning of love and life, and
also very much about the meaning of death. Opera as a
form, however, might even be dead itself. The last
great operas are said to be those written around 1900.

"But, the psychoanalytic critic and philosopher Slavoj
Zizek is quick to point out, 1900 is also the year in
which Freud 'invents' psychoanalysis. Can this be a
coincidence? Opera's Second Death is a passionate
exploration of opera--the genre, its masterpieces, and
the nature of death. Using a dazzling array of tools,
Slavoj Zizek and coauthor Mladen Dolar explore the
strange compulsions that overpower characters in
Mozart and Wagner, as well as our own desires to die
and to go to the opera.

"Mozart's understanding of psychoanalysis and Wagner's
sense of humor are but two of the many surprises in
Zizek and Dolar's operatic tour de force. Opera's
Second Death is an extended aria on a subject that is
far from dead."

http://www.routledge-ny.com/books.cfm?isbn=0415930162&CFID=1162&CFTOKEN=4755839

Have only flipped through so far, but thought someone
or another here might be interested.  To be honest, I
don't listen to much opera, the closest I've gotten to
sitting through on is that Ingmar Bergman film of The
Magic Flute which I'm pretty sure my Mom made my Dad
take us to, but I nonetheless get all the books that
come out on the subject ...



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