Civil Engagement

GIUSEPPE PENNISI discusses operas representing
intrigues which couldn't be discussed in public

Many operas have strong civil engagement content. Cavalli and Monteverdi showed the intrigues of the Gonzaga Court in Mantua and the Inquisition in Venice on stage, intrigues that could not be discussed in public. Many German operas of the nineteen thirties were simply forbidden by the Nazis because of their civil content. More recently, in the United States there is a full category of operas dealing quite openly with political issues in a rather critical way...

BERLIN

GERMANY

ROME

ITALY

IGOR STRAVINSKY

ALFREDO CASELLA

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

PAUL HINDEMITH

OLIVIER MESSIAEN

MARIO CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO