Seizing the Menotti Moment Opera meets McLuhan meets Millennials
This co-authored paper examines how theories about the effects of technology on society, developed by communications theorist Marshall McLuhan in the mid-twentieth century, are represented in Gian Carlo Menotti’s double bill, The Telephone and The Medium (1946-47). Many of the themes raised by the c...
Saved in:
| Published in: | College music symposium Vol. 56 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Binghamton, N. Y
The College Music Society
01-01-2016
The College Music Society, Inc |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | This co-authored paper examines how theories about the effects of technology on society, developed by communications theorist Marshall McLuhan in the mid-twentieth century, are represented in Gian Carlo Menotti’s double bill, The Telephone and The Medium (1946-47). Many of the themes raised by the composer-librettist resonate with McLuhan’s research on the technological extension of human faculties in the post-Guttenberg era. Compounded in updated university productions informed by postmodern readings, stagings of Menotti’s operas by savvy directors tap into contemporary concerns about the role and repercussions of technology in society today.
This collaborative project involves a professor, a graduate teaching assistant, and seven undergraduate students (Kyra Assaad, Anna-Julia David, Adam Kasztenny, Patrick Kelly, Duncan Martin, Elliott McMurchy, and Kevin Matthew Wong) in a course entitled The World of Opera. Students were required to attend a university opera production of The Telephone and The Medium and then write a review of the production engaging selected writings by Marshall McLuhan and two later theorists of contemporary technology—Giles Slade and Sherry Turkle. The resulting paper represents a compilation and distillation of the student reviews, edited and expanded collaboratively by the course instructors. While past theoretical and critical engagement with Menotti’s operas has been slim, together we argue that updated productions of Menotti’s double bill resonate profoundly with McLuhan’s positive analyses of new modalities of communication. Riding a wave of renewed interest in the social and psychological impact of communication technologies in our contemporary world, innovative stage productions of Menotti’s double bill resonate with new audiences in stimulating and thought-provoking ways. Exemplified with audio-visual clips from the University of Toronto Opera. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0069-5696 2334-203X |