Die Oper des 20. Jahrhunderts in 100 Meisterwerken

Gerard Mortier used to say that there were more masterpieces in the 20th century than in the 19th. He was right! Over the course of the 20th century, good old European opera has evolved in so many directions and taken root in so many parts of the world that we stand in awe before an incredible wealth of art. The splendor of Art Nouveau, the fury of Expressionism, the soul-searching of psychoanalysis, the alluring colors of distant lands—all of this is reflected in the sound of opera. But so too are social misery, hypocrisy, alienation, wars—and Auschwitz. Opera can entertain and amuse, mind the mind , and stir the soul. But it also transforms suffering into beauty. By shaking people to their core, it can also set them free. Some 20th-century operas are an imposition. But what an imposition! They lead us into new, unknown aesthetic worlds.

As an opera director, journalist, and theorist, Bernd Feuchtner has become familiar with and presented a wealth of 20th-century operas. The masterpieces featured in this book allow readers to relive the period between 1901 and 2000.

"A great success that no one seriously interested in opera will be able to avoid in the future." (Juan Martin Koch, Opera + Dance, 01/21)

Bernd Feuchtner lives as a freelance author in Berlin. He was opera director and chief dramaturge in Heidelberg, Salzburg and Karlsruhe for ten years. He also founded and directed the Winter Baroque Festival in Schwetzingen and was artistic director of the Karlsruhe Handel Festival. Before that, he was one of the most distinguished music and dance journalists for twenty years: as an editor at Tagesspiegel and Opernwelt and as a freelance author for Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Süddeutsche, HR, SWR, among others. He received his doctorate in political science with his Shostakovich book, in which he showed for the first time how the Soviet composer reacted artistically to political pressure. He has taught at universities in Frankfurt/M., Berlin, Heidelberg, Salzburg, Karlsruhe and Offenbach. Bernd Feuchtner is President of the German Shostakovich Society.

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