Résumés
Abstract
Virility was central to Italian fascist ideology and yet the operas composed and performed in Italy during the 1930s systematically subvert the virility of their heroes both dramatically and musically, revealing a more fraught relationship with fascist ideology than has been suggested until now. A comparison between operas by Gian Francesco Malipiero, Ottorino Respighi, Pietro Mascagni, Ildebrando Pizzetti, and Alfredo Casella on the one hand and films by Alessandro Blasetti, Mario Camerini, and Carmine Gallone on the other, all produced in Italy during the mid-1930s, shows that the absence of male protagonists embodying fascist ideals of virility is confined to opera. I suggest that the failure of these operas to present virile male protagonists partly stems from a confrontation between opera and film. Indeed, the emergence of sound films and cinema’s privileged position within the Fascist regime forced opera to redefine itself as an art form in relationship to film.
Keywords:
- masculinity,
- fascist virility,
- opera and film,
- characterization of male protagonists,
- Ancient Roman subjects
Résumé
La virilité est au coeur de l’idéologie fasciste ; pourtant, les opéras composés et représentés en Italie pendant les années 1930 subvertissent systématiquement la virilité des héros sur les plans musical et dramatique, révélant que ces opéras entretenaient une relation bien plus complexe avec l’idéologie fasciste qu’on ne l’a affirmé jusqu’à présent. Une comparaison entre les opéras de Gian Francesco Malipiero, Ottorino Respighi, Pietro Mascagni, Ildebrando Pizzetti et Alfredo Casella et les films de Alessandro Blasetti, Mario Camerini et Carmine Gallone, tous produits en Italie pendant les années 1930, démontre que cette absence de protagonistes masculins incarnant les attributs de la virilité fasciste est unique à l’opéra. J’avance que cette absence résulte, entre autres, d’une confrontation entre l’opéra et le cinéma. En effet, l’émergence des films sonores et la position privilégiée du cinéma au sein du régime fasciste porte l’opéra à se redéfinir comme médium face au cinéma.
Mots-clés :
- masculinité,
- virilité fasciste,
- opéra et cinéma,
- caractérisation des protagonistes masculins,
- sujets tirés de l’Antiquité romaine
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Note biographique
Zoey M. Cochran poursuit ses études doctorales à l’Université McGill, où elle analyse les enjeux politiques des drammi per musica créés dans les régions d’Italie qui se trouvaient sous domination autrichienne pendant la première moitié du xviiie siècle. Plus largement, elle s’intéresse à la relation entre l’opéra italien, l’histoire linguistique et culturelle de l’Italie et l’identité italienne. Elle a présenté sa recherche sur des sujets allant du madrigal aux opéras fascistes italiens dans des colloques internationaux et sa recherche sur l’emploi du toscan dans l’opéra comique napolitain lui a valu le prix Proctor (2012). Passionnée par la diction lyrique italienne, elle l’enseigne à l’Université de Montréal et au Conservatoire de Musique et d’Art Dramatique du Québec.