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Up Close and Personal: Opera and Television Broadcasting in the 1950s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2019

DANIELLE WARD-GRIFFIN
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Abstract

This article examines early pedagogical experiments in opera on television that were meant to attract new audiences in the 1950s. The aesthetics of early television have often been thought to run contrary to opera, particularly in its grander iterations, but I argue that television producers capitalized upon the traits of early television to personalize opera, both on and off screen. Comparing two NBC pedagogical initiatives—a 1958 Omnibus program starring Leonard Bernstein and the 1956–57 visits of the NBC Opera Company to Saint Mary's College (South Bend, Indiana)—I explore how these efforts were meant to approximate the opera fan's experience as well as prepare audience members to enter the opera house. Ultimately, although opera on television failed to secure a strong foothold in the 1950s, it helped to re-envision the ways in which American audiences could relate to the art form and set the terms for the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD broadcasts today.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Society for American Music , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 216 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Music 2019 

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References

References

National Broadcasting Company History Files. Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Broadcasting Company Records. Wisconsin Historical Society. Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Saint Mary's College Archives. South Bend, IN.Google Scholar
Barnes, Jennifer. “Television Opera: A Non History.” In A Night in at the Opera: Media Representations of Opera, edited by Tambling, Jeremy, 25–51. London: John Libbey & Company, 1994.Google Scholar
Barnes, Jennifer. Television Opera: The Fall of Opera Commissioned for Television. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Boddy, William. Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1982.Google Scholar
Bogart, Leo. The Age of Television: A Study of Viewing Habits and the Impact of Television on American Life, 3rd ed. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1972.Google Scholar
Bolter, Jay David and Grusin, Richard. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Burke, Richard C. “A History of Televised Opera in the United States.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1963.Google Scholar
Bussell, Jan. The Art of Television. London: Faber & Faber, 1952.Google Scholar
Citron, Marcia. Opera on Screen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Deaville, James. “Toscanini, Ormandy, and the First Televised Orchestra Concert(s): The Networks and the Broadcasting of Musical Celebrity.” In Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audiences, edited by Baade, Christina and Deaville, James, 193–211. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Dizikes, John. Opera in America: A Cultural History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Esse, Melina. “Don't Look Now: Opera, Liveness, and the Televisual.” Opera Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 81–95.Google Scholar
Gelleny, Sharon. “Leonard Bernstein on Television: Bridging the Gap between Classical Music and Popular Culture.” Journal of Popular Music Studies 11–12, no. 1 (March 1999): 48–67.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Jason. The Intimate Screen: Early British Television Drama. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Kirk, Elise K. American Opera. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Morris, Christopher. “Digital Diva: Opera on Video.” Opera Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 96–119.Google Scholar
Rose, Brian G. Televising the Performing Arts: Interviews with Merrill Brockway, Kirk Browning and Roger Englander. Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance 29. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Rose, Brian G. Television and the Performing Arts: A Handbook and Reference Guide to American Cultural Programming. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Senici, Emanuele. “Opera on Italian Television: The First Thirty Years, 1954–1984.” In Opera and Video: Technology and Spectatorship, edited by Pérez, Héctor J., 45–70. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang, 2012.Google Scholar
Senici, Emanuele. “Porn Style?: Space and Time in Live Opera Videos.” Opera Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 63–80.Google Scholar
Sheppard, Anthony W. “Review of the Metropolitan Opera's New HD Movie Theatre Broadcasts.” American Music 25, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 383–87.Google Scholar
Spigel, Lynn. Make Room for TV: Television and the Family Ideal in Postwar America. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992.Google Scholar
Steichen, James. “HD Opera: A Love/Hate Story.” Opera Quarterly 27, no. 4 (Fall 2011): 443–59.Google Scholar
Steichen, James. “The Metropolitan Opera Goes Public: Peter Gelb and the Institutional Dramaturgy of ‘The Met Live in HD.’” Music and the Moving Image 2, no. 2 (Summer 2009): 24–30.Google Scholar
Taylor, Timothy. “The Role of Opera in the Rise of Radio.” In Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audiences, edited by Baade, Christina and Deaville, James, 69–90. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Vancour, Shawn. “Spectacular Sound: Classical Music Programming and the Problem of ‘Visual Interest’ in Early US Television.” In Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audiences, edited by Baade, Christina L. and Deaville, James, 91–107. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Ward-Griffin, Danielle. “As Seen on TV: Putting the NBC Opera on Stage.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 71, no. 3 (Fall 2018): 595–654.Google Scholar
Williams, Raymond. Television: Technology and Cultural Form. New York: Routledge, 1990.Google Scholar
Bernstein, Leonard, conductor. Omnibus: What Makes Opera Grand? Directed by Robbie, Seymour. Broadcast March 23, 1958, NBC.Google Scholar
Gounod, Charles. Metropolitan Live in HD: Roméo et Juliette. Live Broadcast, January 21, 2017.Google Scholar
National Broadcasting Company History Files. Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Broadcasting Company Records. Wisconsin Historical Society. Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Saint Mary's College Archives. South Bend, IN.Google Scholar
Barnes, Jennifer. “Television Opera: A Non History.” In A Night in at the Opera: Media Representations of Opera, edited by Tambling, Jeremy, 25–51. London: John Libbey & Company, 1994.Google Scholar
Barnes, Jennifer. Television Opera: The Fall of Opera Commissioned for Television. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Boddy, William. Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1982.Google Scholar
Bogart, Leo. The Age of Television: A Study of Viewing Habits and the Impact of Television on American Life, 3rd ed. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1972.Google Scholar
Bolter, Jay David and Grusin, Richard. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Burke, Richard C. “A History of Televised Opera in the United States.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1963.Google Scholar
Bussell, Jan. The Art of Television. London: Faber & Faber, 1952.Google Scholar
Citron, Marcia. Opera on Screen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Deaville, James. “Toscanini, Ormandy, and the First Televised Orchestra Concert(s): The Networks and the Broadcasting of Musical Celebrity.” In Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audiences, edited by Baade, Christina and Deaville, James, 193–211. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Dizikes, John. Opera in America: A Cultural History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Esse, Melina. “Don't Look Now: Opera, Liveness, and the Televisual.” Opera Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 81–95.Google Scholar
Gelleny, Sharon. “Leonard Bernstein on Television: Bridging the Gap between Classical Music and Popular Culture.” Journal of Popular Music Studies 11–12, no. 1 (March 1999): 48–67.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Jason. The Intimate Screen: Early British Television Drama. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Kirk, Elise K. American Opera. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Morris, Christopher. “Digital Diva: Opera on Video.” Opera Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 96–119.Google Scholar
Rose, Brian G. Televising the Performing Arts: Interviews with Merrill Brockway, Kirk Browning and Roger Englander. Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance 29. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Rose, Brian G. Television and the Performing Arts: A Handbook and Reference Guide to American Cultural Programming. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Senici, Emanuele. “Opera on Italian Television: The First Thirty Years, 1954–1984.” In Opera and Video: Technology and Spectatorship, edited by Pérez, Héctor J., 45–70. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang, 2012.Google Scholar
Senici, Emanuele. “Porn Style?: Space and Time in Live Opera Videos.” Opera Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 63–80.Google Scholar
Sheppard, Anthony W. “Review of the Metropolitan Opera's New HD Movie Theatre Broadcasts.” American Music 25, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 383–87.Google Scholar
Spigel, Lynn. Make Room for TV: Television and the Family Ideal in Postwar America. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992.Google Scholar
Steichen, James. “HD Opera: A Love/Hate Story.” Opera Quarterly 27, no. 4 (Fall 2011): 443–59.Google Scholar
Steichen, James. “The Metropolitan Opera Goes Public: Peter Gelb and the Institutional Dramaturgy of ‘The Met Live in HD.’” Music and the Moving Image 2, no. 2 (Summer 2009): 24–30.Google Scholar
Taylor, Timothy. “The Role of Opera in the Rise of Radio.” In Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audiences, edited by Baade, Christina and Deaville, James, 69–90. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Vancour, Shawn. “Spectacular Sound: Classical Music Programming and the Problem of ‘Visual Interest’ in Early US Television.” In Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audiences, edited by Baade, Christina L. and Deaville, James, 91–107. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Ward-Griffin, Danielle. “As Seen on TV: Putting the NBC Opera on Stage.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 71, no. 3 (Fall 2018): 595–654.Google Scholar
Williams, Raymond. Television: Technology and Cultural Form. New York: Routledge, 1990.Google Scholar
Bernstein, Leonard, conductor. Omnibus: What Makes Opera Grand? Directed by Robbie, Seymour. Broadcast March 23, 1958, NBC.Google Scholar
Gounod, Charles. Metropolitan Live in HD: Roméo et Juliette. Live Broadcast, January 21, 2017.Google Scholar