Translating Wagner’s Versmelodie
-
Karen Wilson-deRoze
Abstract
Opera is ‘other’ than the sum of its individual verbal, musical and mimic-scenic parts, and a singable translation of its libretto requires that the translator go beyond copying the original prosody, so that the new words fit the notes, to considering the relationship between musical and poetic meaning, as well as the resulting dramatic action on stage. This study considers how three performed translations of Wagner’s Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung, two of the operas in the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, and my own translation, respond to Wagner’s synthesis of verse and music. It reveals how far the translator must consider the way in which musical and verbal meanings converge, and how each contributes to the singer’s interpretation.
Abstract
Opera is ‘other’ than the sum of its individual verbal, musical and mimic-scenic parts, and a singable translation of its libretto requires that the translator go beyond copying the original prosody, so that the new words fit the notes, to considering the relationship between musical and poetic meaning, as well as the resulting dramatic action on stage. This study considers how three performed translations of Wagner’s Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung, two of the operas in the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, and my own translation, respond to Wagner’s synthesis of verse and music. It reveals how far the translator must consider the way in which musical and verbal meanings converge, and how each contributes to the singer’s interpretation.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Open perspectives
- Opera and intercultural musicology as modes of translation 13
- Surtitles and the multi-semiotic balance 35
- Tradition and transgression 53
-
Across genres and media
- When Mei Lanfang encountered Fei Mu 75
- Fluid borders: From Carmen to The Car Man . Bourne’s ballet in the light of post-translation 95
- Aesthetics of translation 117
-
Text and context
- Translations, adaptations or rewritings? 135
- The voice of the translator 159
- “Ordne die Reih’n” 175
- The migration of Madama Butterfly 195
-
From text to stage
- The intertwined nature of music, language and culture in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 219
- Translating Wagner’s Versmelodie 243
- Operetta in Turkey 271
-
Libretto translation revisited
- Two English translations of Jaroslav Kvapil’s Rusalka libretto 291
- Intertextuality in nineteenth-century Italian librettos: To translate or not to translate? 315
- Multilingual libretti across linguistic borders and translation modes 337
- About the contributors 359
- Index 365
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Open perspectives
- Opera and intercultural musicology as modes of translation 13
- Surtitles and the multi-semiotic balance 35
- Tradition and transgression 53
-
Across genres and media
- When Mei Lanfang encountered Fei Mu 75
- Fluid borders: From Carmen to The Car Man . Bourne’s ballet in the light of post-translation 95
- Aesthetics of translation 117
-
Text and context
- Translations, adaptations or rewritings? 135
- The voice of the translator 159
- “Ordne die Reih’n” 175
- The migration of Madama Butterfly 195
-
From text to stage
- The intertwined nature of music, language and culture in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 219
- Translating Wagner’s Versmelodie 243
- Operetta in Turkey 271
-
Libretto translation revisited
- Two English translations of Jaroslav Kvapil’s Rusalka libretto 291
- Intertextuality in nineteenth-century Italian librettos: To translate or not to translate? 315
- Multilingual libretti across linguistic borders and translation modes 337
- About the contributors 359
- Index 365
