Did Jacques Offenbach sacrifice his true potential to be accepted as a Jew in a Christian world? Was Iago driven by unconscious homosexual feelings for Otello? Did Wagner suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder?
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This collection of 18 essays on 24 operas–four by Mozart are treated in a single chapter, as are the four of Wagner’s Ring cycle–started 20 years ago as scripts to accompany the Thursday-night opera broadcast on Indiana Public Radio. Plaut sensed he was on to something and hung on to the scripts, continuing to work on them.
For instance, Plaut contrasts Beethoven’s “superficial and stereotyped” treatment of “the ‘little’ people” in Fidelio with Mozart’s lively, lovingly drawn Figaro and Susanna. He attributes Beethoven’s “contempt for working-class people” to his terrible relationship with his working-class younger brothers and his endless social aspirations.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Cynthia Howe.
