Postopera

<p>Both in opera studies and in most operatic works the singing body is often taken for granted. In <i>Postopera: Reinventing the Voice-Body</i> Jelena Novak reintroduces an awareness of the physicality of the singing body to opera studies. Arguing that the voice-body relationship itself is a producer of meaning she furthermore posits this relationship as one of the major driving forces in recent opera. She takes as her focus six contemporary operas - <i>La Belle et la Bête </i>(Philip Glass) <i>Writing to Vermeer </i>(Louis Andriessen Peter Greenaway) <i>Three Tales </i>(Steve Reich Beryl Korot) <i>One </i>(Michel van der Aa) <i>Homeland </i>(Laurie Anderson) and <i>La Commedia</i> (Louis Andriessen Hal Hartley) - which she terms 'postoperas'. These pieces are sites for creative exploration where the boundaries of the opera world are stretched. Central to this is the impact of new media a de-synchronization between image and sound or a redefinition of body-voice-gender relationships. Novak dissects the singing body as a set of rules protocols effects and strategies. That dissection shows how the singing body acts within the world of opera what interventions it makes and how it constitutes opera's meanings.</p>