This seminal study of Giuseppe Verdi's German-language reception provides important new perspectives on German musical culture and nationalism from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. Kreuzer argues that the concept of Germany's musical supremacy, so dear to its nationalist cause, was continually challenged by the popularity of Italian opera, a genre increasingly epitomised by Verdi. The book traces the many facets of this Italian-German opposition in the context of intense historical developments from German unification in 1871 to the end of World War II and beyond. Drawing on an exceptionally broad range of sources, Kreuzer explores the construction of visual and biographical images of Verdi; the marketing, interpretation and adaptation of individual works; regional, social and religious undercurrents in German musical life; and overt political appropriations. Suppressed, manipulated and, not least, guiltily enjoyed, Verdi emerges as a powerful influence on German intellectuals' ideas about their collective identity and Germany's paradigmatic musical Other.

This book explores how the reception of Italian opera, epitomised by Verdi, influenced changing ideas of German musical and national identity.

About the Author
Gundula Kreuzer is Assistant Professor of Music at Yale University. Her work on Verdi's music and reception, the marketing of opera and the theory and history of staging has appeared in various journals and collected volumes, including the Cambridge Opera Journal and the Journal of the American Musicological Society, and has earned her the Alfred Einstein Award of the American Musicological Society as well as the Jerome Roche Prize of the Royal Musical Association. She is editor of The Works of Giuseppe Verdi, Series V: Instrumental Chamber Music (2009) and has been serving as Reviews and Associate Editor for The Opera Quarterly.

Reviews
'Verdi and the Germans boldly explores new directions in the study of nationalism and music. Instead of focusing on the 'German-ness' of German composers, as has been done thus far, it looks at how Germans reacted to the most prominent non-German composer of the nineteenth century, Giuseppe Verdi. This long and fascinating story, told by Gundula Kreuzer with immense erudition and sharp insight, is well worth reading not only for musicologists, but also for cultural and social historians, as well as anybody interested in the tentacular hold of nationalism over minds, hearts and ears.' Emanuele Senici, University of Rome
'Gundula Kreuzer has addressed a theme of capital importance in this book: the role of foreign cultures in creating a nation's self image. She could hardly have chosen a more appropriate reception study to interrogate this theme. In the course of her absorbing, and engagingly written, book she sheds light on Verdi and on German culture alike, and with an historical sweep which takes us to the Third Reich and beyond. Based on a careful trawl of journals and newspapers (the weight of research collapsed into her footnotes is truly impressive), Verdi and the Germans is scholarship of the very highest quality.' Jim Samson, Royal Holloway, University of London
'Draws upon a wide and impressive range of documentary sources.' Opera
'Kreuzer shows a courageous willingness to confront some uncomfortable truths. Her engrossing book is a vivid illustration of how music can be used in the service of politics and a warning that we ignore the significance of the arts at our peril.' Music and Letters


Awards
Winner of Lewis Lockwood Award, American Musicological Society 2011 and A Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2011 and Gaddis Smith International Book Prize, MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University 2012.



Book Information
ISBN 9780521519199
Author Gundula Kreuzer
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 810g
Dimensions(mm) 249mm * 175mm * 25mm