Europe and Beyond. Transfers, Networks and Markets for Musical Theatre in Modern Europe, 1740-1960

Research project at EUI, Department of History and Civilization 2009-2012

 Organisation and Work Programme

The project is supervised by Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (HEC), a leading  international theoretician in the field of comparative history.

It is co-directed by Philipp Ther (University of Vienna), also a comparative historian, and author of a monograph on opera theatres in Central Europe in the 19th century.

Other organizers:

Antonella Romano (HEC)

Steve Smith (HEC) 

Sven Oliver Müller (Max Planck Institut für Bildungsforschung in Berlin) 

Magdalena Waligórska (HEC)

 Researchers, Affiliations and Case Studies

In addition to the two Chairs, Heinz-Gerhard Haupt and Philipp Ther, the project consists of one researcher position, four postdoctoral stipends, one doctoral stipend, one research assistant and several affiliated participants.

The postdoctoral stipends are financed by cooperation partners. As part of our drive to create a network of European cultural history, each stipend holder pursues h/her own project and must produce a monograph and prepare a paper for at least one international workshop.

• Sven Oliver Müller (Max Planck Institut für Bildungsforschung), In Pursuit of Cultural Power. Nazi Politics of Music in Europe (1933-1945)
• Aurelia Barbuscia (EUI, Florence), The Rise of Rossini and the Reception of Bel Canto (1810-1848)
• Merih Erol (Bogaziçi University, Istanbul), Musical Discourse in the Greek-orthodox Community of Constantinople (1860-1914): An Identity Question in the Entanglements of Politics, Aesthetics and Religion 
• Vjera Katalinic (University of Zagreb), On the Grand Tour. New Repertoires and Standards Introduced by Touring Theatres in Europe (1870-1914)
• Dimitrios Kiousopoulos (EUI, Florence), Social and Cultural Aspects of the Diffusion of Opera in the 19th Century Eastern Mediterranean: Athens (1840-1900) as a Case Study
• Adam Mestyan (Central European University, Budapest), Opera as a European Export Model? Muslim Discourses about Opera and Adaptation in the Eastern Mediterranean (1869-1922)
• Markian Prokopovych (Central European University Budapest), Mapping European Culture. The Impact of Musical Theatre in Modern Europe
• Oksana Sarkisova (OSA Archivum, Central European University, Budapest) Musical Cinema in the Conflict of Systems (1930-1960)Ostap Sereda (Kyiv University), Cultural Politics and Musical Theatre in Russian-ruled Kyiv, 1856-1896
• Peter Stachel (Austrian Academy of the Sciences, Vienna, Commission for Culture Studies), ‘Musikland Österreich’ in a historical perspective
• Jutta Toelle (Humboldt-University, Berlin), Stars of the Musical Theatre and the Rise of Audiovisual Media (1905-1960)
• Magdalena Waligorska (EUI, Florence) The klezmer revival in Poland and Germany. A story of a Jewish/non-Jewish Encounter.
• Sarah Zalfen (Free University, Berlin), Opera in Mediation. Performance, Participation, and Promotion in the 20th Century
• Gesa zur Nieden (German Historical Institute, Rome), French Musicians and Composers in the 17th Century. Reflections in Musical History between France and Italy in Rome, 1590-1715

 For more information see 

 Workshops and Conferences

The project has initiated a series of twice-yearly conferences at different universities in Europe. These allow each researcher and each research group to present their approach,  research questions and perspectives.

This approach is crucial to discuss not only the methods of our project but to talk about the day-to-day business and the practical problems of how to use the regional archives and compare the cultural differences of the languages in Europe.

The topics of our conferences to date and the perspectives for the future: 

• Musical Markets and Cultural Reception. The Impact of Musical Theatre in Modern Europe, Roundtable, Florence EUI, 4–6 June 2009
• Musical Societies and Politics: European Music in the Ottoman Empire and the Early Turkish Republic, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, 29-31 October, 2009
• Opera in Medial Transformation. Performance, Perception and Promotion Workshop, EUI Florence, 12-13 March 2010

• Cultural Policy and Theater in European Empires. The “Kulturstaat” Austria in International Comparison, Hörsaal des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte Universität Wien, 19-20 November 2010. Programme 

• Music and Occupational Regimes in Europe, 1914-1945. Conference, in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute, Berlin, 11-13 March 2011. Programme 

• Music and the Cold War, Autumn 2011

For more information see   

 International Cooperation

The project has a variegated structure that includes researchers financed by the EUI, affiliated researchers financed by other institutions, and Ph.D. researchers in the Department of History and Civilization.  

This has generated very productive results in 2009/10. One member of our research team  and one affiliated researcher (who published her Ph.D. on musical life in Paris) have attracted external funding for their own specific projects.

Both of them maintain in close contact with the core project at the EUI which has thus successfully radiated into several national research communities. This will also reinforce our network of young academics with activities in Rome, Paris and Berlin.

The first project is directed by Gesa zur Nieden at the German Historical Institute, Rome), and deals with European Musicians in Venice, Rome and Naples (Europäische Musiker in Venedig, Rom und Neapel (1650-1750): Musik, nationale Identität und kultureller Austausch). Zur Nieden leads a team of 14 German, French and Italian researchers in drawing a cultural map of musical education, musical style and musical exchange in Europe.

The second project is directed by Sven Oliver Müller (EUI, Max-Planck Institute, Berlin) and deals with the history of music and emotions in modern Europe (“Gefühlte Gemeinschaften? Musikalisch motivierte Emotionen in der Geschichte Europas”).

This team of one  post-doc and four  Ph.D. researchers will analyse on the one hand the control of emotions in so-called serious music, and on the other hand how public performances could provoke riots and stimulated audience behaviour.  

 Book Series

The book series on ‘musical cultures of European metropoles’ published with Oldenbourg/Böhlau in Vienna is continuing successfully. The findings of two of our researchers, Jutta Toelle and Gesa zur Nieden, were published by the project in a monograph (Vols. 4 and 6).

Our collections of essays not only present important perspectives about the transfer of musical culture across Europe, but also involve authors from different disciplines (musicology, sociology, theatre history) participating in our research.

A book by Philipp Ther entitled ‘Under the Spell of Nations: Opera Theatres in Central Europe 1815-1914’ has been accepted for publication by Oxford University Press. On the request of the publisher it is currently being translated and will appear in 2011.  

List of Books