It is likely that the majority of the audience at the DNO in 2009 had an idea of what they were about to see even before they received the synopsis, and not just in the sense that they bought tickets. Although conceived in the context of books, I believe that operatic program booklets can very well be understood as texts provided by “the author and his allies” (“Introduction” 262) that “surround” and “extend” ( Paratexts 1) a work, to ensure “a better reception of the text, and a more pertinent reading” (262). In doing so, I will use Gérard Genette’s concept of paratexts.
This thesis argues that this synopsis, henceforth refered to as vdM, can tell us a lot about the way Carmen is read and is presented to an audience. As is customary, its audience was provided with a program booklet that included an approximately 700-word summary of the 2,5-hour show.
In 2009, the Dutch National Opera (DNO for short) staged one of the most frequently performed works in the operatic canon, George Bizet’s 1875 opéra-comique Carmen (libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy).
0 kommentar(er)
