Smith International Book Prize and the Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize) supported my research, while permissions and illustrations were covered by a generous grant from the Frederick Hilles Fund.
Curtain, Gong, Steam also bears significant traces of Yale’s intellectual community. I am particularly grateful to Brian Kane for his endlessly stimulating questions, challenges, and recommendations, without which some sections would have taken a less interesting course; Daniel Harrison for shepherding me through the administrative tangles of Yale’s notorious tenure system; Ellen Rosand for her prudent and candid mentorship; Ève Poudrier for her humane presence, now missed; Gary Tomlinson for pushing my arguments at decisive junctures; Ian Quinn for his friendship from day one; James Hepokoski for his critical eye and unfailing trust; Michael Veal for probing my short foray into popular culture; Patrick McCreless for our “Wagner lunches” and his all-around generosity; and Rick Cohn as well as, more recently, Anna Zayaruznaya, Henry Parkes, and Rebekah Ahrendt for enhancing the Music Department’s friendly vibe. Beyond Stoeckel Hall, Francesco Casetti, John Durham Peters, Katie Trumpener, Milette Gaifman, Paola Bertucci, Pauline LeVen, Rüdiger Campe, and Tim Barringer have added helpful perspectives. In the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Helen Bartlett, Karl Schrom, Remi Castonguy, and Suzanne Eggleston Lovejoy went out of their way to obtain what they must often have considered obscure materials. Not least, a string of wonderful graduate students—many by now professional scholars in their own right—have aided my research in ways (and locations) too numerous to list: my heartfelt thanks to Alexandra Kieffer, Annelies Andries, Carmel Raz, Christy Thomas, Henry Balme, Joseph Salem, Julia Doe, Kamala Schelling, Marco Ladd, and Sylvia Leith. Leanne Dodge was an astute copyeditor in the earliest stages; and Hilary Purrington patiently set the music examples. Finally, at a time when the book should long have been in production, Rona Johnston abetted its extra editorial loop and requested slimming with her keen eye for linguistic detail.
Although—like Wagnerian technologies—I will inevitably fail to cover everyone who has helped the genesis of this book, I would like to thank Alessandra Campana, Clemens Risi, David J. Levin, Jutta Toelle, Laura Tunbridge, Lydia Goehr, and Mauro Calcagno for their encouragement, feedback, friendship, and sometimes hospitality over the years; David Charlton for sharing his unpublished dissertation and his expertise on Parisian tam-tams; Benjamin Steege, Florence Grétreau, and Matthew Goodheart for their help with other gong-related matters; Anselm Gerhard, Charles Kronenberg, Daniel KL Chua, David Rosen, Francesca Brittan, Katherine Hambridge, Laurence Dreyfus, Mary Ann Smart, Ralph Locke, Thomas Betzwieser, and my interlocutors at various colloquia for their valuable comments on early presentations of individual chapters; Sarah Hibberd for inviting me to two science-and-technology workshops that provided important stimuli for chapters 2 and 3; and Ryan Minor for being my most consistent interlocutor and conspirator in all things operatic (as well as lending a second set of eyes to chapter 4). Axel Körner, Benjamin Walton, David Trippett, Flora Willson, Gavin Williams, Katherine Fry, and Sarah Hibberd took it upon themselves to read and critique several chapters in a further workshop at King’s College, London. Roger Parker not only organized this unique occasion but, once again, accompanied my book’s path from the first ideas to its final shape; his uncanny ability to solve structural issues and stoke the creative fires—not to mention his enduring friendship—remain invaluable for my work and myself. I am likewise indebted to Stephen Hinton and my friend Emanuele Senici, the (then) anonymous readers of this manuscript, for their astute observations, critique, and constructive encouragement. At the University of California Press, Mary Francis and, more recently, Raina Polivka have been ardent advocates; Zuha Khan and Benjy Malings lent welcome help during the protracted final stages of preproduction editing, and Dore Brown, Kristine Hunt, and Nicholle Lutz saw the book into print.
My research could not have been undertaken without countless librarians and archivists on both sides of the Atlantic. I am particularly indebted to the following representatives and their staff: Kristina Unger, Nationalarchiv der Richard-Wagner-Stiftung, Bayreuth; Marie-Luise Adlung, Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, and Martina Rebmann, Musikabteilung der Staatsbibiliothek, Berlin; Rainer Maaß, Hessisches Staatsarchiv, and Silvia Uhlemann, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt; Ann Kersting-Meuleman, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt; Gerald Köhler, Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung der Universität Köln; Sabine Kurth, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and Markus Schmalzl, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich; Andrea Harrandt, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, and Irmgard Pangerl, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Vienna; Bérengère de l’Epine, Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville, Magali Lacousse, Archives nationales, and Pierre Vidal, Bibliothèque-musée de l’Opéra, Paris; Mariagrazia Carlone, Archivio Storico Civico e Biblioteca Trivulziana, and Matteo Sartorio, Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan; Giovanna Caridei, Archivio di Stato, Naples; Gavin Dixon, Horniman Museum, London; Tara Craig, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York; and Christina Linklater, Loeb Music Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Personally, curtains, gongs, and steam have accompanied me through both the happiest and the most challenging times of my life. The book would not have taken its present shape without the loving support I encountered along the way. I am indebted to Shakur for the time we had; Jonah and Zachary for opening their worlds to me, and keeping them open (those Minecraft axes are for you); Elizabeth, Eve, Jaia, Leah, Lisa, Nora, and Penelope for caring like sisters; Mother Clare (now dearly missed), Christine, Johanna, Lucille, and Michael for their wisdom and time; Benjamin, Eric, Jackie, Jessamyn, Ryan, and Yuval for standing by in NYC; my parents, Arthur and Gisela, for their wholehearted backing in every possible way; and Anselm and Britta with Milla and Lale for so joyfully embracing me as an auntie. My own aunt Barbara has graced my life with her ongoing interest in my scholarly pursuits and, even more, with her empathy, her ability to listen without judgment, and her spiritual resonance. It is to her and her quiet love that I dedicate this book in gratitude.
New Haven, June 2017
Abbreviations
| Aufführung | Richard Wagner, “Über die Aufführung des ‘Tannhäuser.’ Eine Mittheilung an die Dirigenten und Darsteller dieser Oper” (1852), SD 5:123–60. |
| A-Whh | Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Vienna. |
| A-Wn | Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Musiksammlung, Vienna. |
| CCG | Collection complète des œuvres de Grétry, publiée par le gouvernement belge. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, [1884–1936]. |
| CWD | Cosima Wagner’s Diaries. Edited and annotated by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack. Translated and with an introduction by Geoffrey Skelton. 2 vols. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978–80. |
| CWT | Cosima Wagner, Die Tagebücher. Edited by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack. 2 vols. Munich: Piper, 1976–77. |
| D-B | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung. |
| D-Bga | Geheimes Staatsarchiv, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin. |
| D-BHna | Richard Wagner-Stiftung, Richard-Wagner-Museum mit Nationalarchiv, Bayreuth. |
| D-DSsa | Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt. |
| D-F | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg, Musik- und Theaterabteilung, Frankfurt am Main. |
| D-KNth | Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung der Universität Köln. |
| D-Mbs | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, Musikabteilung. |
| D-Mhsa | Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich. |
| D-WRdn | Deutsches Nationaltheater, Archiv, Weimar. |
| ERO | Early Romantic Opera: Bellini—Rossini—Meyerbeer—Donizetti & Grand Opera in Paris. Edited with introductions by Philip Gossett and Charles Rosen. 44 vols. New York: Garland, 1978–83. |
| F-Pan | Archives nationales, Paris. |
| F-Pbmo | Bibliothèque nationale de France, Bibliothèque-musée de l’Opéra, Paris. |
| fs | full score |
| GMO | Grove Music Online. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/. |
| GMW | Giacomo Meyerbeer, Werkausgabe. Abteilung 1: Bühnenwerke. Edited by Jürgen Selk. Munich: Ricordi, 2000–ongoing. |
| GREC | Gioachino
|
