Die Remarque-Oper der Austro-Amerikanischen Komponistin Dr. Nancy Van de Vate

English summary: This dissertation discusses an opera of the contemporary Austrian-American composer Dr. Nancy Van de Vate, a little known adaption of Erich Maria Remarque's novel "Im Westen nichts Neues" (published in English under the title "All Quiet on the Western Front"). The production which premiered in Osnabruck, Germany in September 2003 was well received by the national press. However, this opera which is undoubtedly an important piece of contemporary work setting literature...
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English summary: This dissertation discusses an opera of the contemporary Austrian-American composer Dr. Nancy Van de Vate, a little known adaption of Erich Maria Remarque's novel "Im Westen nichts Neues" (published in English under the title "All Quiet on the Western Front"). The production which premiered in Osnabruck, Germany in September 2003 was well received by the national press. However, this opera which is undoubtedly an important piece of contemporary work setting literature to music, hasn't yet attained the recognition it deserves either from critics or from (musical) academia. The present study applies an intermedial approach to the textual, dramatical, theatrical and musical aspects of this work while at the same time illustrating the process of crossing from the written medium, in this case a novel, to composition in the operatic medium. It addresses the adaption of Remarque's novel to opera from the point of view of literature and cultural art. It does not concentrate entirely on musical aspects or the score, but presents the observation that this operatic composition is a multimedia and intermedia phenomenon based on a text subsequently designed for a performance on stage. German description: Der Band beschaftigt sich mit einer bislang wenig bekannten musikalischen Adaption von Erich Maria Remarques Roman Im Westen nichts Neues: der Oper der zeitgenossischen austro-amerikanischen Komponistin Dr. Nancy Van de Vate, die im September 2003 in Osnabruck uraufgefuhrt wurde. Die dortige Inszenierung fand in den Feuilletons renommierter Zeitungen Beachtung, aber im Ganzen hat die betreffende Oper, die zweifellos ein wichtiges Werk der Gegenwartsoper darstellt, bisher noch nicht den angemessenen kritischen und wissenschaftlichen Respons erhalten, der ihr gebuhrt. Die Studie widmet sich in einem intermedialen Ansatz den textuellen, dramatischen, theatralen und musikalischen Aspekten des Werks, um auf diese Weise zugleich den medienuberschreitenden Aneignungsprozess vom Text zur Opernkomposition sichtbar zu machen. So wird die Adaption von Remarques Roman in der Oper unter literaturwissenschaftlichen und kulturwissenschaftlichen Gesichtspunkten untersucht.