Intermediality, Hybridity, and Disruption, in the Operas of Wagner and Verdi

Abstract

‘Intermediality’ and ‘Hybridity’ are often discussed as if they apply only to creative works of the last century and of the future, and that their use necessarily entails the presence of contemporary technology. But in our careers as academic, author and artist, we are increasingly reminded of how the most innovative work in performance almost inevitably resonates with that of the past, sometimes quite remote past, and with genres which may, today, frequently seem conservative in their realisation. Recently we have come to see that many of our discussions could relate to a complex, and of course, deeply hybrid genre of performance, so thoroughly embedded in our culture that we no longer perceive how strange and problematic it is, that is Opera.