Don Juan Archiv - Wien, Forschungsverlag
Franz Xaver Huber - Soliman der Zweite, oder die drey Sultaninen
Franz Xaver Huber: Soliman der Zweite, oder die drey Sultaninen. Ein Singspiel in zewy Aufzügen. Nach dem französischen des Herrn Favart bearbeitet. Die Musik ist von Hrn. Franz Xav. Süßmayer, Kapellmeister in wirklichen Diensten der k. k. Theatral = Hof = Direktion. Wien: Wallishauser (sic), 1799 (Don Juan Archiv Wien, Komplex Mauerbach MB 1000)
J[ohann] - F[riedrich] - J�nger -Selim, Prinz von Algier - Ein Trauerspiel in f�nf Aufz�gen
J[ohann]. F[riedrich]. Jünger: Selim, Prinz von Algier. Ein Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen. Wien: Wallishausser, 1805. (Don Juan Archiv Wien, Komplex Mauerbach MB 1150)
[Franz] Kratter - Der Friede am Pruth, ein Schauspiel in f�nf Aufz�gen
[Franz] Kratter: Der Friede am Pruth, ein Schauspiel in fünf Aufzügen. Frankfurt: Eßlinger, 1799 (Don Juan Archiv Wien, Komplex Mauerbach MB 1422)

OTTOMAN EMPIRE & EUROPEAN THEATRE
From the Beginnings to 1800
I.
The Age of Sultan Selim III and Mozart
Vienna (Act I)

25TH APRIL 2008, FRIDAY

from 08:30 Registration

09:30-10:30 Vienna Symposium Opening Ceremony

 

Welcome

Helga Dostal

President of the International Theatre Institute of the UNESCO / Centrum Österreich

 

Selim Yenel

Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Austria

 

Emil Brix

Ambassador, Austrian Foreign Ministry / Cultural Section

 

Wolfgang Greisenegger

University of Vienna; Department for Theater- Film- and Mediastudies

Greetings

Metin And

Member of Turkish Academy of Sciences Ankara

Opening

Michael Hüttler

Don Juan Archiv Wien

 

 

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

 

11:00-12:30 Session I (Opening Session) " Opera & Diplomacy "

Chair: Gabriele C. Pfeiffer (Vienna)

Speakers:

Suna Suner (Vienna)

Günsel Renda (Istanbul)

Frank Huss (Vienna)

 

1. Suna Suner (Vienna)

The earliest Opera Performances in the Ottoman World and Ambassadors’ roles.

What could be said about performance in the Ottoman Seraglio in the eighteenth century especially during the era of Sultan Selim III (1761–1808, r.1789–1807), who was a contemporary of Mozart? In Ottoman history, the eighteenth century is an era characterized by ‘westernization’ and a movement towards modernization (Mustafa Cezar in “Ottoman Cultural Scene in 18th Century”, Association of Art History Pub. 3, Istanbul 1998: 44-45). But was it composed of and represented by acrobats, comedians, magicians, and shadow-theatre players belonging to the Sultan’s subjects performing in the presence of the Sultan merely for his entertainment? Could opera be talked about in the Ottoman world as early as the eighteenth century? What could be said about Ottoman Sultans engaging in and indulging themselves with opera as a form of entertainment or even as a form of performing art?

This paper, a constituent of a research project run by the Don Juan Archiv Wien since February 2007, provides a prelude to the series of symposia entitled Ottoman Empire & European Theatre — From the Beginnings to 1800. It will serve as background for the contributions to follow, potentially giving way to productive exchange and discussion by portraying the earliest traces (1524) and evidence (1786) of the beginning of opera performances in the Ottoman world. Related to this issue, the paper endeavours also to explore the relations of diplomacy and culture of the Ottoman Empire and the European States mainly in the eighteenth century.

The alluring and thought-provoking subject of the Ottoman Empire and European theatre undeniably deserves special attention not only in terms of theatre and cultural studies, but also because it is consistent with the contemporary agenda of relations between Turkey and the European Union.

 

2. Günsel Renda (Istanbul)

European Ambassadors at the Ottoman Court: The Imperial Protocol in Late-Eighteenth Century

In the Ottoman State, the reception of ambassadors was governed by an imperial protocol that was followed without change until the mid-nineteenth century. The ambassador would first visit the residence of the grand vizier where a date would be given to him for the official reception by the sultan. On the morning of the reception the ambassador and his retinue would proceed to the Topkapı Palace on horseback with a military escort. The procession would first pass through, Bâb-ı Hümâyûn (The Imperial Gate) and the Bâb-üs Selâm (“The Gate of Salutation) and then be ushered into a chamber near the imperial council chamber where the grand vizier would serve the guests a dinner. The delegation would then observe a meeting of the council conducted by the grand vizier and subsequently be admitted to an adjoining room where the ambassador and his retinue were given fur-lined kaftans. Wearing these, they were admitted to the throne room. The sultan’s reception in the throne room followed strict rules of protocol.

With the increase in European diplomatic relations in the eighteenth century, the receptions of the ambassadors were documented in literary works and illustrated by several artists.

The paper will discuss the receptions of European ambassadors in the late eighteenth century using historical records, literary works and illustrations.

 

3. Frank Huss (Vienna)

“Auf türkische Art prächtig aufgeputzt” — The visit to Vienna by the extraordinary Ottoman Envoy, Chaddi Mustafa Effendi, in the year 1748

Chaddi Mustafa Effendi, the extraordinary envoy of the Ottoman ruler, Mahmud I (1696–1754, r.1730–1754), set off from Constantinople for Vienna at the end of January, 1748. The reason for the envoy’s trip was primarily to confirm the peace treaty of Belgrade which had been concluded after the last war between the houses of Austria and Ottoman in 1739, with the new Holy Roman Emperor, Francis Stephen I (*1708–1765, r.1745–1765). In addition, the visit served to communicate the congratulations of the Ottoman ruler on the coronations of Francis Stephen as Emperor (1745) and of his wife, Maria Theresia (*1717–1780), as Queen of Hungary (1741), and to improve trade relations between the two countries.

However, the population of Vienna must have been more than a little astonished as Chaddi Mustafa rode through the outskirts of the city on May 15, 1748: his camp-followers consisted of approximately a hundred people, including trumpeters, a ‘stable attendant’ (Achor-Kihajasi), an equerry together with grooms, an Imam, the ‘Ceremoniarius’ (Capitschiler Kihajasi), the “Divan Effendi” (Legation Secretary), in addition to treasurers, chefs, water carriers, servants, slaves, military personnel and much more, as well as approximately fifty valuable horses and wagons, all draped in red.

The ‘diplomatic’ part of the visit consisted of audiences with the President of the Court Council of War, Count Johann Joseph Philipp von Harrach (on May 27, 1748), and with their imperial and royal majesties in the Wiener Burg, the main imperial residence (June 6 and June 10, 1748). After the second audience with the imperial majesties had been enjoyed, Chaddi Mustafa’s official work seemed to have been done and he could devote himself completely to pleasure. The program included, among other things, a visit to the Imperial Treasury and the gallery, a ‘kleine Jagd’ (‘small hunt’) in the Prater, a visit to the ‘so genannten Kahlenberg’ (‘so-called Kahlenberg’) to enjoy the pleasant ‘Sommer=Luft’ (summer air) there, a visit to the ‘Neu=Gebäu’, of the ‘Collegium der Gesellschaft Jesu’ (‘College of the Society of Jesus”), and ‘die aldasige Mathematische Kunst=Sammlung’ (‘mathematical art collection’); and as the highlight, four visits to the opera.

On July 14, the envoy and some of his retinue visited the ‘the theatre adjoining the castle, which was built under an imperial privilege’, in order to attend an ‘Italian musical opera’ (La Finta Pazzia di Diana).

On July 17, Chaddi Mustafa visited the Burgtheater once again, this time in the presence of the imperial family. On that evening, he attended the premiere of the most recent opera by the poet, Cesareo Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782) Alessandro nell’Indie with music by Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715–1777), featuring in the main roles the alto, Vittoria Tesi (1700–1775), well-known all over Europe as Cleofide, and the castrato Angelo Amorevoli (1716–1798), known as Alexander. In the course of this performance, Chaddi Mustafa was also ‘treated again to confections and various sumptuous refreshments at the expense of the Imperial and Royal Court’. On Monday, the 29th of July, 1748, he attended a German comedy in the Kärntnertortheater. His fourth visit to the theatre was to the one adjacent to the castle for a performance of the opera, Orazio by Antonio Palomba (1705–1769), with music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736).

The Wienerische Diarium mentioned in its edition of September 14, 1748, that the ‘Turkish extraordinary envoy Chaddi Mustafa Efendi had had his farewell audience with both reigning imperial majesties and in a few days had set out on his return journey to Constantinople’.

The peace treaties of Belgrade dating from the year 1739 were renewed because of the visit of the envoy and were to remain in effect for forty years. It was only in 1788 that Kaiser Josef II of Austria (*1741, r.1765–1790) took Russia’s side in a renewed war against the ‘Porte’ which was only ended by his brother and successor Leopold II (*1747, r.1790–1792) with the Treaty of Sistova (currently Svishtov, Bulgaria) of August 4, 1791. At that time, the Ottoman Sultan was the ‘Reform sultan’, Selim III (1761–1808, r.1789–1807), who, in the course of his reforms, established in 1791 the first permanent diplomatic representation of the Ottoman Empire at the Imperial Court.

 

12:30-14:30 Lunch Break

 

14:30-17:30 Session II " Cross Europe I - Besieging Vienna / Conquering London "

Chair: Helga Dostal (Vienna)

Speakers:

Memo G. Schachiner (Vienna)

Thomas Betzwieser (Bayreuth)

Emre Araci (Kent)

 

4. Memo G. Schachiner (Vienna)

Janissary Music — Turkish Music — Great Confusion Everywhere!

Everybody knows what the Janissary music is: this is Turkish music! But what kind of music is it? Nobody knows!

The Ottomans called the Christians Kafir which stands for ‘ungodly’. The Europeans called the Ottomans Turk, which also stands for ‘ungodly, or the main enemy of Christendom’. The Ottoman Empire was a multi-ethnic state and ‘Turk’ was neither a national nor an ethnic term.

Janissaries were soldiers in the private army of Ottoman Sultans. Their job was fighting.

However, no fewer books were published about the Janissary music in the twentieth century than were about W. A. Mozart, not about the music, but about the musical instruments of the Janissaries.

It is true, that there was a musical trend in German-speaking countries in eighteenth century, called ‘Janissary music’ or ‘Turkish music’. In this music some new percussion Instruments were used, which were not known in the Ottoman Empire.

It is also true, that in addition to military bands, the Ottoman Sultans had very big field music bands that did not use the ‘Turkish Crescent’ or ‘Triangle’. This kind of band was called Mihterhane (“House of the Higher Officials”). But with the exception of some Turkish journalists nobody researched these bands until I did.

The ‘nostalgia bands’ called Mehter Team in Turkey today are only a product of the fantasy of some European authors. In the martial spirit of the 1930s, beginning with Henry George Farmer (1882–1965), many European authors created legends about the ‘Janissary music’. These legends had been the ‘dogmas’ of musicology. I will report on the historical reality and compare it with those legends.

 

5. Thomas Betzwieser (Bayreuth)

Ottoman Representation and Musical “alla turca”: Visiting an unknown Viennese Theatre Source

In 1925, in his book Gluck und Durazzo im Burgtheater, Robert Haas mentioned a musical manuscript related to the ‘Turkish’ vogue in opera and ballet of the 1750s and 1760s. Since then, this document has remained unexplored by scholars, although it seems to be highly important in relation to musical and theatrical “exoticism” in Vienna. The manuscript entitled Airs et intermèdes de la Tragédie (A-Wn Cod. 17874) can be identified as incidental music (“Schauspielmusik”), a genre mostly uncommon in Viennese theatres at that time.

In the first instance, the paper tries to identify the Oriental play (i.e. tragedy), in which these intermèdes may have been inserted (e.g. Voltaire’s Zaire). In a second step, it investigates the character of the source, since the manuscript presents, habits and customs of the Ottoman society. The intermèdes are divided into several sections related to , specific official and religious ceremonies: La visite des Turcs, Le repas, L’audience, La priere, and Pratique de dévotion des Derviches.

The most interesting issue, however, is the music. The manuscript consists of thirteen pieces which seem to be a compilation of ‘Turkish’ music known to that date. Some could be identified as Austrian pieces (e.g. by Johann Joseph Fux, 1660–1741); others, surprisingly, as French ‘Oriental’ pieces that were composed in relation to a political Ottoman-French encounter in 1742. The manuscript also includes pieces that present entirely new ‘Turkish’ features that were not common in the Viennese ‘alla turca’ repertoire, leading to the assumption that the intermèdes were designed and composed for an official, political Austrian-Ottoman event at that time, which could explain their extraordinary theatrical and musical character.

 

6. Emre Araci (London)

Investigating Ottoman Musical Representations in Britain from Late Late Eighteenth to Mid-nineteenth Century

The first permanent Ottoman Ambassador to the Court of St James, Yusuf Agâh Efendi (1744–1823/24), arrived in London in December 1793 as the representative of Sultan Selim III (1761–1808, r.1789–1807). The ambassador’s arrival in the city seems to have sparked a series of Ottoman-themed musical and stage performances and the creation of a number of grand Turkish ambassadorial marches by British composers.

This paper looks at different representations of ‘Turks’ and Ottoman related subjects in British musical life from the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century, from stage works to military music, from fashionable balls in London to the fierce battles of Crimea, finally culminating in the celebrated visit of Sultan Abdulaziz (1830–1876, r.1861–1876) to London in 1867, which was marked by a grand choral hymn sung in the Ottoman language by sixteen hundred British singers at Crystal Palace.

 

18:00 Closing of the First Day

 

19:30 Concert and Reception at the Turkish Embassy (by Invitation)

Welcome:

Selim Yenel

Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Austria

Concert / Recital

Nadja Kayali (Concept and Presentation)

Christopher Hinterhuber (Piano)

Jennifer Davison (Soprano)

Brigitte Pekarek (Reading)

  

26TH APRIL 2008, SATURDAY

 

09:00-11:00 Session III " Italian Reflections "

Chair: Michael Hüttler (Vienna)

 

Speakers:

Derek Weber (Vienna)

Marianne Traven (Uppsala)

Erich Duda (Vienna)

 

1. Derek Weber (Vienna)

From Zaide to Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Mozart on his Oriental Way to German Opera

 

Mozart wrote two 'Turkish' operas: the first, and unfinished Zaide (composed in Salzburg at the turn of 1779/80; KV 344), and some years later, the better known, Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio", composed in Vienna 1781/82; KV 384). Zaide was composed in Salzburg, at a time characterized by various musical experiments in the realm of symphony as well as in music for the stage, such as the revision of the music to Thamos König von Egypten ("Thamos, King of Egypt"; KV 345). Notwithstanding the beauty of its music, Zaide has received attention only during the last decades, primarily because not only did the opera remain unfinished, but it ends at a crucial dramaturgic point when two of the protagonists have been sentenced to death and no 'good' solution is in sight. Moreover, the original spoken dialogue has been lost and was supplemented in the middle of the nineteenth century by the text of the presumed model to the libretto: a Türkenstück by a certain Franz Josef Sebastiani (? p. 1778), with music composed by Joseph Frieberth (1724-1799), Das Serail. Oder: Die unvermuthete Zusammenkunft in der Sclaverey zwischen Vater, Tochter und Sohn ("The Seraglio. Or: The Unexpected Encounter in Slavery from Father, Daughter, and Son"), printed in Bozen 1779.

Although Zaide lacks the dramatic unity of Idomeneo, which was completed only one year later (it premiered in Munich, January 29, 1781), it is Mozart´s most tragic opera and represents the important first step on the way to his 'German' operas, the Entführung (Vienna, July 16th 1782) and Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute", Vienna, September 30, 1791).

Mozart's estimation of the music can be seen (or better, heard) by the fact that he implemented a Zaide melody into the Entführung: In Constanza´s second aria, "Traurigkeit ward mir zum Lose", the flutes strike a phrase from the last number of the Zaide music, the Quartet, which is then taken over by the singing voice with the words "Selbst der Luft darf ich nicht sagen meiner Seele bittern Schmerz".

However, there is a big difference between Zaide and Constanze: Zaide is a naive young girl in love, who seems to act instinctively. Constanze is a woman with a 'past': she is much more determined in her decisions, but is also more melancholic. Even if she is young, Constanze seems to be a mature woman in conflict with herself after she has encountered Bassa Selim (who in fact is not an oriental character, but a 'renegade', which in Mozart's time meant a European Christian, converted to Islam). The Bassa (Pasha) is the opposite of one Sultan Soliman, a patient admirer of Constanze, even when he threatens to use drastic measures if he is not heard. His particular character is underlined by the fact that he is not a singer, but an actor.

Not only are the characters more developed and less schematic in the Entführung, but in this second of his 'German' operas Mozart also finds to a new equilibrium between the comic and the tragic. Here, the humor refers to things that people in Mozart's times would have associated with the 'Orient': that Moslems were forbidden to drink alcohol, that rulers used to keep women in harems, and that they were uncultured and bloodthirsty. Another aspect of this concession to public taste was the use of 'Turkish' elements in music, whereas Zaide does not contain one single 'oriental' piece of music.

If one can mark Entführung as the key work for Mozart's dramaturgic development, Zaide appears as the necessary first step in that direction.

 

2. Marianne Tråvén (Uppsala)

Getting Emotional - Mozart's 'Turkish' Operas and The Emotive Aspect of Slavery

 

This paper explores the emotive aspect and rhetoric of slavery as depicted by Mozart in the operas Zaide (unfinished; composed 1779/80; KV 344), and Die Entführung aus dem Serail (composed 1781/82; KV 384) and L'oca del Cairo (draft; 1783; KV 422). Mozart's compositional process rested on traditional musical rhetoric, combined with para- and extralinguistic material as well as musical gesture, all merged through harmonic structure. In Mozart's 'Turkish' operas emotional prosody and musical gesture create the very image of slavery. This image reappears in other operassuch as Don Giovanni (1787), creating a kind of hypertext that often eludes even experienced listeners.

 

3. Erich Duda (Vienna)

Franz Xaver Süßmayr's Sinfonia Turchesca (Vienna 1784/87), Il Turco in Italia (Prague 1794), and Soliman II (Vienna 1799)

 

Franz Xaver Süßmayr (1766 Schwanenstadt - 1803 Vienna) and his works are little known, apart from the fact that he was a student and a personal friend of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, and that after Mozart's death Süßmayr completed Mozart's Requiem. In this paper, three pieces with 'Turkish' themes composed by Süßmayr will be presented and analyzed: the Sinfonia Turchesca, and the operas Il Turco in Italia, and Soliman II.

"Sinfonia turchesca in C" might be the first of Süßmayr's 'Turkish' works. Only one apograph copy exists of this work so the period of composition can only be estimated as between 1784 and 1787, although some stylistic elements suggest that it may have been composed after 1800. A representative part of an audio recording of the work performed by the Concentus Musicus Wien and conducted by Paul Angerer will be discussed.

Süßmayr wrote his first stagework in the 'Turkish' genre not for a libretto specifically written for him, but for an existing one: Il Turco in Italia, by Caterino Mazzolà (1745-1806), set to music by the Saxon Franz Seydelmann (1748-1806). It premiered in 1788 in Dresden, and was also presented ten times in 1789 in the Vienna Nationaltheater. Süßmayr composed his music for the Prague Italian Opera Company whose impresario, Domenico Guardasoni (1731-1806), is known for having staged the Prague premiere of Don Giovanni (Da Ponte/Mozart, October 29, 1787) and La Clemenza di Tito (Metastasio rev. Mazzolà/Mozart, 06.09.1791), for the latter of which, Mozart had taken Süßmayr to Prague.

The adaptor of Mazzolà's Turco in Italia is unknown, but he changed the title, so the opera premiered as Il Musulmano a Napoli in the Prague Landständische Theater on February 12, 1794. Süßmayer's opera was still in Guardasoni's repertoire in autumn Ocotber 1, 1794. Whether there were performances of the opera in other towns is not known.

Süßmayr's last work with a 'Turkish' theme is the opera Soliman der Zweite, based on Charles Simon Favart's (1710-1792) Soliman II ou Les trois Sultanes (Paris 1761). The libretto was prepared by Franz Xaver Huber (1755-1814), and premiered on October 1, 1799 in the Kärntnerthor-Theater, Vienna. Because it appealed to the fashion of the era, this opera became very popular and was presented sixty times at various theatres in Vienna, as well as in Budapest, Salzburg, Baden near Vienna, Prague, and Bremen. An aria from this opera performed by Ms. Ildikó Raimondi and recorded on CD, will be discussed.

The 'Turkish flair' of these works is achieved with percussion instruments and piccolo flutes, and also through the "exotic" flavours of the melody and harmony. At the time, this kind of music was fashionable and it brought some success to Süßmayr.

 

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

 

11:30-13:00 Session IV " Center On The Edge - The Habsburg Monarchy "

Chair: Ulf Birbaumer (Vienna)

 

Speakers:

Matthias Pernerstorfer (Vienna)

Gabriele Pfeiffer (Vienna)

1. Matthias J. Pernerstorfer (Vienna)

The Second Turkish Siege of Vienna (1683) Reflected in Its First Centenary: "Anniversary Plays" in the Pálffy Theatre-Library

 

A project by the Don Juan Archiv Wien is dedicated to the cataloguing of the "Theater-Bibliothek Pálffy" (Pálffy Theatre Library, abbrv. as BP), a collection of more than 2,300 plays in 706 volumes from the years 1741 through 1845. The collection owes its genesis to several members of the Pálffy family which had a distinct role in Mozart's reception in Vienna as early as 1762. The plays offer a cross-section of the repertoire of the Viennese stages during the time of Sultan Selim III (1761-1808, r.1789-1807) and Mozart (1756-1791), allowing valuable insight into the diversity of 'Turkish' topics that were brought to the stage. In addition to a description of the project and general evaluation of the almost unknown collection, the presentation focuses on two plays by Paul Weidmann (1744-1801) and Friedrich Gensicke (1750-1784) that are interesting in relation to the centenary celebration of the end of the second Turkish siege held September 12, 1783.

Paul Weidmann had already written an original drama in five acts Das befreyte Wien ("Vienna Liberated", BP Vol. 206) in 1775, which was restaged in September 1783. The second Turkish siege of Vienna therefore offers a historical background for discussing the issue of patriotism and honour, as well as the individual's duty towards his or her threatened homeland. This enlightened discourse - in which the besiegers appear simply as the enemy or "the Turks" - is studded by scenes in which the comical figure Kolschüzki rudely describes activities in the Turkish camp, and the unpatriotic Baroness von Schwindheim is unflatteringly portrayed adopting inappropriately unenlightened ideas that are unbefitting of her position as she volunteers her poor opinion of the Turks. Even though the siege and liberation of Vienna was not interpreted as a religious war, the victors are ultimately celebrated as "heroes of Christianity" (V/6, p. 75) in the last act.

Friedrich Gensicke's drama in three acts, Die belohnte Treue der Wiener Bürger oder: der 12te September 1683 ("The Rewarded Loyalty of Vienna's Citizens, Or: The 12th of September 1683", BP, Vol. 56) was explicitly written, printed and staged "to celebrate the 100-year anniversary" of Vienna's liberation from the second Turkish siege. The drama stages both the besieged city and the Turkish camp, showing on both sides people placing hopes in their respective gods. With the appearance of the allegorical figures Peace, Hope, and Rumour, as well as Vienna's guardian angel, the play receives a metaphysical superstructure. As these figures talk about events in the world, they do not assume a superior Christian God: they view the course of history as determined by fate, which is not defined by one religion. This interesting concept is only sacrificed in the last scene of the play for a patriotic final tableau, when the (partisan) guardian angel of Vienna declares that its city's victory is also a victory for Christianity. Consequent¬ly, even though it is a play of strict patriotism, the battle for Vienna is constructed as a religious war almost exclusively to the human figures.

 

2. Gabriele C. Pfeiffer (Vienna)

Freemason, Mozart's Contemporary, Theatre-Director on the Edge: Franz Kratter and Der Friede am Pruth ("The Treaty of Prut", 1799). Cataloguing "Komplex Mauerbach", Vienna

 

"Komplex Mauerbach" is an inventory of mostly German language theatre texts from the mid-eighteenth century to the first third of the twentieth century. The volumes in the collection represent cultural assets that had formerly been Jewish property, were confiscated in Austria by the Nazi administration (1938-1945) and, after the end of that period, could not be restored to the their owners or heirs. From 1955 the books, together with other non-restituted objects, were collected and saved at a Charterhouse on the outskirts of Vienna, Kartause Mauerbach, hence the name "Mauerbach Collection". The entire Mauerbach Collection was auctioned at the Mauerbach Benefit Sale by Christie's Auction House during the Austrian millennium year of 1996 to benefit the victims of the Holocaust. The twelve lots of theatre texts are comprised of about 2,900 small books with about 3,600 plays. The purchaser and current owner defines the property not as a "collection" in the strict sense, but as a "complex of multiple origin". Therefore the ensemble of booklets is called the "Komplex Mauerbach". In 2007, the Don Juan Archiv Wien was entrusted with the task of cataloguing and editing this "Komplex". The inventory includes eighty-six identifiable "Oriental plays," (representing about 2.4% of the inventory catalogued as of January 31, 2008) , which were produced between 1751 and 1909. The series starts with Mahomed der Vierte ("Mahomed the Fourth"; Vienna 1751, Mauerbach No. [MB] 1435), who was Sultan III Selim's great-grandfather (1642-1693, r.1648-1687), and closes with Die Geschichte des Alî Inb Bekkâr mit Schams An Nahâr ("The Story of Alî Inb Bekkâr with Schams An Nahâr"; Vienna/Leipzig 1909, MB 0001). It contains mostly plays, but also libretti, such as one which was composed by Mozart's last student, Franz Xaver Süßmayer (1766-1803), Solimann der Zweite oder Die drei Sultaninen ("Solimann the Second or The Three Sultanas"; Vienna 1799, MB 1000).

The titles of the plays may refer to specific character types such as 'the Moor' in the Mohr von Demegonda ("Moor of Demegonda"; Vienna 1805, MB 0560-61), and to historic figures such as this symposion's Sultan, Selim der Dritte ("Selim The Third"; Vienna 1872, MB 1766), written by an Ottoman diplomat, the Austrian renegade Murat Effendi (1839-1881). A series of diplomats is represented, starting with Mädchenfreundschaft oder Der türkische Gesandte ("Girl's amity or The Turkish Envoy"; Vienna 1811, MB 1380/05); as well as the host cities for these symposia, in Die Wäringer in Konstantinopel ("The Warings in Constantinople"; Berlin 1828, MB 1813), for example, or Die Türken vor Wien ("The Turks Outside Vienna"; s.l. 1883, MB 0308); as are places such as Der Harem ("The Harem"; s.l. 1811, MB 1387). This inventory presents the possibility of establishing thematic groups within the 'Oriental plays' such as sultan dramas and comedies, magical and magical-harems plays, diplomat plays, and heroic-historical plays. Among the many aspects (only some of which have been mentioned here), the plays by the Bavarian Franz Kratter (1758-1830), one of Mozart's contemporaries who also was a fellow Freemason in Vienna, focus on a special group: three dramas with Czar Peter I of Russia (*1672, r.1682-1725); the third of which, Der Friede am Pruth ("The Treaty of Prut"; Frankfurt 1799, MB 1422), touches upon a special part of Ottoman history that was well known in the late eighteenth century. Since 1700, the Czar of Russia was engaged in a war against King of Sweden Carl XII (*1682, r.1697-1718) and emerged as the victor in 1709. The Swedish king then fled to Constantinople, where he was received and protected by Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736, r.1703-1730, grandfather of Selim III). A certain episode of that situation is told in Carl XII. Bey Bender ("Carl XIIth Bey Bender", Grätz 1800, MB 2486) by Christian August Vulpius (1762-1827), who was, after 1806, brother-in-law of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832).

Is it possible that the sultan began a war with Russia on behalf of his highborn protégé? On July 23, 1711, as a result of the historical Treaty of Prut, the Czar was obligated to guarantee the King of Sweden a safe journey home. (Prut is a tributary stream of the Danube, rising in what is now the Ukraine, and flowing through Rumania and Moldova.) Eighty-eight years later, in 1799, Kratter's play Der Friede am Pruth was printed (Grätz, MB 1419; Frankfurt, MB 1422). In the spring of that year, the play was already in the repertoire of the Weimar court theatre. "The idea of making a drama out of this material" also appealed to Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), as he wrote, on June 11, 1799, from Jena to his friend Goethe, then the Weimar court theatre's director: "But the play may not be that special since you did not say anything about it," Schiller presumed.

Among other things, this contribution explores the question of what the subject was on which Goethe remained silent..

 

13:00-14:30 Lunch Break

 

14:30-16:45 Session V (Closing Session) " Cross Europe II - From Denmark to The Sublime Porte "

Chair: Stefan Hulfeld (Vienna)

 

Speakers:

Bent Holm (Copenhagen)

Annemarie Bönsch (Vienna)

Käthe Springer-Dissmann (Vienna)

 

1. Bent Holm (Copenhagen)

The 'Turk' on Stage in Danish 18th Century Theatre

 

In eighteenth-century Denmark the 'Turk' appears in various performative contexts: in non-theatrical stagings, such as royal or popular festivities; on stage as a character in translated plays such as Voltaire's (1694-1778) tragedy Zaira (Copenhagen 1757) or Charles Simon Favart's (1710-1792) opéra comique Soliman Second ou Les Trois Sultanes (Copenhagen 1770); and on stage in comic or dramatic plays written by Danish playwrights and produced for the Danish theatre. These various depictions refer to historical-religious contexts, to fascination and fashion, and to actual political events.

The paper will specifically focus on two performances: the tragicomedy Melampe (1724) by Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), and the opera Holger Danske ("Holger the Dane", 1789) by Jens Baggesen (1764-1826) and Fl.L.Ae Kunzen (1761-1817). Melampe takes place in southern Italy in the late 1690s. Part of the plot is related to confrontations with the Osmanli Empire, and considered in light of contemporary texts such as Luther's treatises, Melampe presents the Turk in an apocalyptical perspective. Holger Danske deals with the eponymous legendary Danish national hero. Holger arrives to the Sultan's court as an envoy from Charlemagne. The opera depicts the Osmanli conduct and mentality in a significant contrast to those of the chivalrous Nordic hero. At the time (1788-1789), Denmark was at war with Sweden as a consequence of the Swedish-Russian conflict. Sweden shared interests with the Osmanli Empire in that connection. As we will see, the image of the 'Turk' had complex implications.

 

2. Annemarie Bönsch (Vienna)

'Turkish' and 'Exotic' References in the Fashion of the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century

 

The pan-European character of the Enlightenment presented itself without a consciousness of nationalities, but also without a sense of history. This meant there was no demand for historical or national authenticity in fashion and the theatre. The idea of tolerance probably resulted from this attitude (Voltaire: L'Orphelin de la Chine, Paris 1755; Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Nathan der Weise, Berlin 1779; W. A. Mozart/Johann Gottlieb Stephanie according to Christoph Friedrich Bretzner: Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Wien 1782). Superficial, global enthusiasm for 'exotic' themes emerged, as evident in the famous example of Marie Antoinette's Creole shirt of 1783. Without any regard of losses, aristocrats availed themselves of everything in the world. Time and again, they dressed à la turque, à la circassienne, à la polonaise, or even according to native models such as à la cauchoise, evoking he style of Caux in Normandy. But these were frequently merely designations, with concrete signals that are no longer discernible today. At the time, they presumably glossed over these considerations by placing the "à la" in front of the words. They did not have the intention of confronting the feigned authenticity, but hid behind it.

As a result, nations encountered each other without difficulties at the masked balls of the court. In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, for example, the emperor and empress acted in "hostels" ("Wirtschaft") as innkeepers and the guests appeared as farmers from all four corners of the earth, representing nations that were enemies at the time.

In late eighteenth century the supranational search for a common "European" fashion model ultimately ended in antiquity, and Hellenistic clothing gave rise to Empire fashion.

3. Käthe Springer-Dissmann (Vienna)

Mozart Goes Constantinople! The Real Conditions of a Fictitious Journey

 

In August of 1791, Mozart received an invitation to Constantinopel (usually called Konstantiniyye by the Ottomans, Istanbul since 1930) or "Constantinopl", as his father called that city in a letter from Vienna, dated 10 December 1762, to Johann Lorenz Hagenauer (1712-1792) in Salzburg. The Treaty of Sistova (today Svishtov, Bulgaria) of 4 August 1791 had just ended the last war between the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empires (1788-1791), making possible a journey from Vienna to Constantinople. Indeed, such travel was even desirable because the consequences of the war were bitter for Mozart who found himself with a falling-off in commissions. Trips to Berlin (1789) and Frankfurt am Main (1790) had not brought the desired professional results and he had rejected an invitation to the metropolis of London in November 1790. On top of this all, the new empress disliked La clemenza di Tito ("Titus' Mildness"), the opera for the new emperor that was staged in Prague, September 6, 1791. It was then that Mozart received a summons to the other "imperial city", to the court of the Sultan, Selim III (ruled 1789-1807), who was barely thirty years old at the time. Mozart, in his thirty-sixth year, accepted the invitation with alacrity. In October, following the premiere of the "great romantic opera" Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") in Vienna on September 30, 1791, Mozart headed off. To pass the time during the journey, he composed his final work, Kleine Freimaurer-Kantate ("Little Freemason Cantata"), in a spirit of optimism and with the hope of performing it at the lodges of Smyrna (Izmir, since 1930) or Constantinople. Or was it the composer's gift to his host in Hermannstadt?

It was to be Mozart's last journey. His wife Konstanze (1762-1842), who was taking a cure in Baden near Vienna because of a leg ailment, remained behind in the company of Mozart's student, Franz Xaver Süßmayr (1766-1803). She did not expect that she would never again see Wolfgang alive but he died on December 5, 1791 in Constantinople. - Or did he?

This fictitious journey gives us the opportunity to demonstrate how people travelled during Mozart's lifetime in the second half of the eighteenth century, and to consider the requirements and conditions of such a journey, the type of infrastructure that existed, the modes of transportation and routes that were taken, etc. The presentation will comment on how this period fits into the history of travel, and give a sense of Mozart as a traveller. But first and foremost, it will describe the possible journey made by the composer into the Ottoman Empire: for him, an artistic experiment to put to the test the 'Oriental' fantasies that were popular on European stages in the eighteenth century. These fantasies themselves are to be analyzed during the course of this symposium at the relevant locations: Vienna and Istanbul. For some of the conference participants, both of these cities are connected by real travel; for others, their journeys will be imaginary expeditions like Mozart's. May all of us have a pleasant journey and new scholarly insights as we depart into the unknown.

 

16:45-17:00 Coffee Break

 

17:00-18:00 Roundtable Discussion

Comments, Reflections (Free Speech)

 

19:30 Symposium Closing Evening:

Dinner at Summerstage

27TH APRIL 2008, SUNDAY

10:00-12:00 Coffee Meeting at Don Juan Archiv Wien

 

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ISTANBUL
(ACT II)

5TH JUNE 2008, THURSDAY

from 8:30 Registration

09:30-10:30 Istanbul Symposium Opening Ceremony

 

Welcome

Christian Brunmayr

Austrian Cultural Forum

Istanbul

 

Cemal Öztas

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Deputy Secretary General

Ankara

 

Heidemaria Gürer

Ambassador of the Republic of Austria in Turkey

Ankara

 

Ilber Ortaylı

President of Topkapi Palace Museum

Istanbul

Greetings

Metin And

Member of Turkish Academy of Sciences

Ankara

Opening

Michael Hüttler

Don Juan Archiv

Vienna

 

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

 

11.00-13.30 Session I (Opening Session) " Cultural Interferences "

Chair: Aysin Candan (Istanbul)

 

Speakers:

Walter Puchner (Athens)

William F. Parmentier (Istanbul)

Babür Turna (Ankara)

 

1. Walter Puchner (Athens)

Earliest Performances of European Drama in seventeenth-century Istanbul

 

This paper deals with recently discovered evidence that there was a series of theatre performances at the French Jesuits' mission in Kostantiniyye during the seventeenth century. These performances of religious Christian dramas are believed to be the earliest documented performances of Latin theatre, if not in the Ottoman Empire as a whole, at least in its capital at the Bosporus.

The dramas were organized within the framework of the school theatre of Jesuit colleges such as that of St. Benedict in Galata, and were usually delivered in the spoken Greek language of the time in an effort to convert the Orthodox Greek people of the capital of the Ottoman Empire to Catholicism. This activity must now be recognized as an essential part of the education program of any Jesuit college, as we know from many examples in all Europe, and as was first recorded in writing in the "Ratio atque Institutio studiorum Societatis Jesu" at the end of the sixteenth century (printed Rome 1599). There is hard evidence for Konstantiniyye in the years 1612, 1614, 1615, 1623.

There is also evidence for the years 1665 and 1666, when the Capuchins in Galata organized similar performances - admired by the Christian boys in town - in an attempt to break the Jesuits' monopoly in this field. The French performances in the French Embassy at Galata in 1673 are also mentioned; here comedies by Molière (1622 -1673) and other French writers were also played.

 

2. William F. Parmentier (Istanbul)

The mehter: Cultural Perceptions and Interpretations of Turkish Drum and Bugle Music through History

 

The concept of 'Turquerie' in Western European culture was a long-time popular fashion whereby the population sought amusement as well as identity by assuming the fashions and behaviour of the 'Other': in this case, representatives of the Ottoman Empire. The exotic nature of "all things Turkish" brought favour and folly to the court of Louis XIV (1638-1715, r.1643-1715) and to other courts of Europe. With the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz (today: Sremski Karlovci, Serbia) in 1699, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland August II der Starke ("the strong", 1670-1733, r.1697-1704, 1709-1733) witnessed the lively instrumentation of the band of the Janissaries known as the mehter. Carrying the concept of 'turquerie' into the realm of music, classical composers added the 'batterie turque' to their orchestras and adapted a lively marching style to their music, which they described as "alla turca". With the subsequent loan of complete bands to the courts of Poland (Warsaw), Russia (St. Petersburg), Prussia (Berlin), and Austria (Vienna), the music and style of the mehter began to permeate into the popular operas and symphonies, adding instruments that are in standard use today.

This paper will explore the mehter's history, their purpose, and elements that contribute to the characteristic sound of their music. The introduction of the mehter into the European culture will be traced. Relying on first-person accounts of music performances and personal correspondence of the composers, I will then show how the mehters' sound was adapted for use by European composers such as Mozart (1756-1791), Haydn (1732-1809), and Beethoven (1770-1827). A brief survey of the major, recognized alla turca works by these composers will follow. Facilities permitting, audio examples can be provided to illustrate the alla turca character of these musical pieces. In concluding, I will discuss how this alla turca music influenced Turkish military music and offer general observations on how the music is perceived today today.

3. Babür Turna (Ankara)

The Watcher and The Watched: Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Diplomatic Visitors in Europe as Spectators and 'Performers'

It is well known that the observations and the reports from the diplomatic corps of eighteenth-century Ottoman ambassadors in Europe played a role of high importance in the Ottoman Empire's process of 'westernization'. Permanent or not, these Ottoman representatives not only witnessed the astonishing achievements of European civilization, but also often felt compelled to describe their experiences with Western culture and way of life by comparing these to their own culture in their reports to the Ottoman sultan. These sources have been used extensively by scholars to develop an understanding of the Ottoman approach towards the West, and of the reception the Ottomans received. These studies, however, have been considered to be primarily a rich source of diplomatic history. But they may also serve cultural historians by providing considerable information about the changes that led the Ottoman intelligentsia and ruling elite towards Western culture in the late eighteenth century. As is well known, theatre and opera have a unique place in this process of cultural transformation.

Among the first to encounter European performing arts, ambassadors to France (the first, Mahmud Bey, ambassador of Sultan Süleyman I, was in France in 1559 when François II succeeded the throne following the death of Henri II), are of primary importance regarding diplomatic relations. In Europe, Yirmisekiz Çelebi Mehmed (? 1732) (Paris, 1720-1722), Reisülküttab Ebubekir Efendi (Vienna, 1791-1792), Yusuf Agah Efendi, 1744-1823/24 (London, 1793), Seyyid Ali Efendi (? 1809) (Berlin, 1795; Paris, 1796-1802), and others attended the programs organized in their honour and watched performances that they sometimes found bizarre, strange, boring or poor, and at other times, amusing. But at the same time, the lives of these ambassadors themselves became objects of curiosity and desire to varying degrees among the masses that watched them. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, particularly in France, the 'Turk' image had already been established in works of history, literature and folklore. In addition to the early sixteenth- and seventeenth-century displays of the image of the 'Muslim Turk' on stage in plays by pre-eminent figures such as Marlowe (1564-1593), Shakespeare (1564-1616), Greville (1554-1628), Molière (1622-1673), and Voltaire (1694-1778), the real existence of Turks in the streets, gardens, and theatres of late eighteenth-century Paris or London offered exciting, spectacular events which were rare at that time.

Thus we may argue that there was a reciprocal exchange of 'performances', designing a virtual platform that promoted cultural interaction and communication. On the Turkish or 'Other' side of this exchange was the individual diplomat himself whose social and private life represented a fascinating 'performance' not to be missed. While the Ottoman ambassadors were invited and watched many theatrical performances, they simultaneously found themselves as performers in front of a distinguished public audience.

After the end of the Ottoman-Russian war of 1787-1792, Sultan Selim III (1761-1808, r.1789-1807) reformed the Ottoman diplomacy by installing, step by step, permanent ambassadors in the major European capitals: Vienna (1791), St. Petersburg (1792), Paris (1793), Berlin (1795), and London (1796). In this paper, special reference will be made to the personal reports of Moralı Esseyyid Ali Efendi (Seyyid Ali Efendi) (? 1809), the first permanent Ottoman ambassador to Paris (1797-1802), to illuminate his position both as a spectator and a performer. I will also discuss the possible effects that the stereotyped 'Turk' image in major works, such as Molière's plays or Mozart's operas, might have on the reconstruction of this image.

 

13:30-14:30 Lunch Break

14.30-17.30 Session II " Sultan Selim III "

Chair: Suraiya Faroqhi (Istanbul)

 

Speakers:

Günsel Renda (Istanbul)

Aysin Candan (Istanbul)

Mustafa Fatih Salgar (Istanbul)

 

1. Günsel Renda (Istanbul)

Sultan Selim III as Patron of the Arts

 

Sultan Selim III was a true reformer, an admirer of western culture, and a great patron of the arts; he was also a musician and a poet, and had mastered the art of calligraphy. His patronage initiated new ideas in the arts especially in Ottoman painting, as he introduced new media, new techniques and new functions. He was one of the sultans most frequently portrayed by local and European artists during his reign, and he was the first sultan to have his portrait painted, printed and distributed. The paper will discuss aspects of his patronage in view of his political interests, his reforms in foreign diplomacy, and his æsthetic concerns to define the process of his image making in Europe.

 

2. Aysin Candan (Istanbul)

Sultan Selim III and His Play World

Among the sultans of the Ottoman dynasty, Selim III (1761-1808, r.1789-1807) is an exceptional figure. The fact that he lived in the late eighteenth century brings him closer to our day than the sovereigns of the foundation period. He came into power in 1789, the year of the French revolution. On the one hand, he was the ruler during the period when the Ottoman Empire approached the West as never before by exchanging ambassadors, signing a number of trade agreements, and offering contracted privileges. On the other hand, he ruled not on the feather bed of feudal absolutism, but amidst uncertainties, critical issues and political turmoil. Aside from being a man of the state, he stood in the foreground with his own art and music. In short, Selim III, with all his doubts, conflicts, and his final misfortune foreshadows the uneasy existence of the modern man.

Ahmet Efendi (? 1807), the chronicler of Selim III, wrote an account of the sultan's days and nights between March 15, 1791 and December 26, 1802, in which music occupies a prominent place. Games, wrestling, storytelling, shadow puppetry, dancing, acrobacy, and animal shows were among the most popular forms of entertainment at the court of Selim III.

It was also Sultan Selim III who introduced Italian opera at the Ottoman dynasty's long-time residence Topkapi Saray in 1797 on the occasion of the Sultan's throning at the Arz Odasi (literally, the "Presentation Chamber," where the Sultan receives both his viziers, and the foreign envoys and ambassadors).

 

3. Mustafa Fatih Salgar (Istanbul)

Sultan Selim III as a Man of Letters and Art

 

In the Ottoman Dynasty, an interest in art was typically associated with adherence to tradition. In this sense, Sultan Selim III (1761-1808, r.1789-1807) holds a special place for art lovers. His political life, his dethronement because of his reformer spirit, his dramatic death in 1808, and to no small extent, his poems, compositions, and makams (melodic types of a particular style and tempo) - in other words, all the melodic types he created - together with his calligraphy, all contribute to his popularity among art lovers.

We recognize his deep interest in Turkish 'classical' music in various sources. However, Sultan Selim III is important not only for his interest in music and for his own art, but also for the major role he played in laying down the foundation for present-day Turkish music through his compositions, makams, and probably most importantly, with the dynamism he carried in classical music.

Living his most effective and musically productive years during his Sehzade ("crown prince") period, Sultan Selim III put his musical talent to good use during his kafes years ("cage years"; where princes were kept until they came to the throne). In addition to his several compositions, he created various makams such as Arazbar-Buselik (arazbar: there is not a clear translation for arazbar; buselik from "buse" = "kiss"), Dilnuvaz (dil: soul, heart; dilnuvaz: "The Soul Pamper"), Evcara (evc: the heaven; ara: adorning, spangling;), Gerdaniye-Kurdi (gerdan: breast, bosom [poetically]; Kûrdi: there is not a clear translation for kûrdi), Hicazeyn (hicaz: region in Arabia; eyn: two - "Double Hicaz"), Hüzzam-i Cedid (cedid: new "Hüzzam" but there is not a clear translation for hüzzam), Isfahanek-i Cedid (Isfahan: a city in Iran; Cedid: new; - "The New Isfahan"), Suz-i Dilara (Suz: flame; Dil: soul, heart. ara: adorning, spangling; - "The Heartspangling Flame"), Muhayyer-Sünbüle (Muhayyer: chosen from among others, favourite. Sünbüle: the spike), Sevkefza (sevk: zest, enthusiasm; şevkefza: that which raises ecstasy, enthusiasm), Sevk-u Tarab (Tarab: Joy, Joyfulness; Sevk: Enthusiasm; - enthusiasm, excitement for joy) and Sevk-i Dil (Dil: Heart, Soul. Sevk-I Dil: enthusiasm, excitement for soul, heart). Moreover, he revived many other melodic types that had been almost forgotten.

As many of the most popular compositions developed from some of these makams, the compositions by Sultan Selim III and his contemporaries, and by other later composers shape our 'classical' repertoire.

 

18:00 Closing of the First Day

 

19.30 Dinner for Participants at a Bosporus Restaurant

 

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6TH JUNE 2008, FRIDAY

09:00-10:30 Session III " From Milan To Vienna "

Chair: Gertrude Durusoy (Izmir)

 

Speakers:

Alexandre Lhâa (Milan)

Michael Hüttler (Vienna)

 

1. Alexandre Lhâa (Milan)

Performing "Turkish Sultans" on the Teatro alla Scala's stage: from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth Century

Turkey's entry into the European Union, and the wide spectrum of opinions that it generates among the political elite and the general public, suggest a questioning about how the relations between Europe and Turkey were constructed. For a long time, Opera has played a crucial role in the diffusion of the Turk's image in the European imaginative universe, both reflecting and creating European mentalities. Choosing as an example one of the most relevant European opera houses, we will study the representation of "Turkish Sultans" on Milan's La Scala stage between 1785 and the mid nineteenth century, after which the staging of the Ottoman Empire declined significantly.

The choice of extending this enquiry onto such a long period responds to previous researchers' urgent demands for a comparative study of several operatic works (e.g. M. Everist and T. Betzwieser). During this period Turkish rulers appear regularly on La Scala's stage. We will look at their evolution through a corpus of several operas and ballets, among them, Il serraglio d'Osmano (1785), I Francesi in Egitto (1799), L'italiana in Algeri (1808 / 1808s version), Maometto II (1824) or Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata, produced in 1843.

The representation of Turkish characters on European stages is inexorably linked with the variety of relations Europe, respective of its different regions or governments, maintained with the Ottoman Empire. Thus, while the latter becomes less threatening, the seventeenth century's Turkophobic representations evolve in the eighteenth century into a striking Turkophilia. Continuing evolution of this image of the Turk is discernable in the period that I propose to examine, and is divisible into three movements as far as the relations between Europe and Ottoman Empire are concerned: the engagement of the European governments in order to fight against the ravishing of the population by barbaresque corsairs (especially France during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte); the Greek war of independence (1821-1830); and finally, France's conquest of Algeria (1830) that the contemporary official discourse links to the idea of the crusades.

The representation of the 'Turkish sultan' follows the evolution of these relationships. If the theme of Europeans held captive in a harem continues until L'Italiana in Algeri (1808/1815), the libretto of L'assedio di Corinto (1828), presents a clear reference to the Turko-Greek conflict that had erupted several years before. The corpus ends with Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843) and its French version re-Italianized as Gerusalemme (1850). This period witnesses a metamorphosis in the image of the 'Turkish ruler': while Osmano is a lax and pleasure-seeking sultan from whom the woman he had ravished is taken away in turn, Maometto is portrayed as a strong and cruel enemy who does not hesitate to ask one of his generals to massacre all the fugitives.

However, the representation of the 'Turk' concerns not only Turko-European relations contemporary to the operas' creation. The usage of the "Turkish Sultan" can be metaphorical; for instance, Italian political realities are evoked through the theme of the Turk. The detour of otherness constitutes, to use Matthew Head's expression, "a Mask for Critique of European Society", evading an extremely accurate censorship or on the contrary relays the governmental discourse.

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2. Michael Hüttler (Vienna)

Representation of 'Turks' on the Late Eighteenth-Century Viennese Stage - 'Oriental' Fantasies or Political Reality ?

 

The paper examines the eighteenth-century Vienna stage repertoire of plays with 'Turkish subjects', and pays especial attention to the period of 1756-1808 that encompasses the lifetimes of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (1756-1791) and Sultan Selim III (1761-1808, r.1789-1807). The paper will identify which dramatic works with 'Turkish' motifs or characters were offered to the public and when these were presented. The content of selected works will be analyzed to consider the plays, on the one hand, in light of the political relationships between the Habsburg lands and the Ottoman Empire; and on the other hand, in relation to a fantasy of the 'Other'. Is there a correlation between stage depictions of Turkish subjects and actual political events? If so, how was it brought to the stage?

The Ottoman Empire was one of Habsburgs' main enemies in the early eighteenth century. However, the danger it posed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries abated after the failed second siege of Vienna in 1683, and especially after the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. However, in the early eighteenth century the 'Turk' was still Habsburgs' main enemy until the treaty of Belgrade 1735, after which peace reigned for more than half a century. To that period belongs the first centenary of Vienna's liberation, but the situation changed when the Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790, r.1765-1790) had to keep the alliance with the Russian Empress Catherine II (1729-1796, r.1762-1796) and go to war against the Sublime Porte from 1788 to 1791. Was the stage focus on portraying a 'Turkish' world intended to satiate the widespread interest in the Orient, or were the exponents of the Ottoman power still a superior enemy waiting alongside the Danube - if not 'at the city's gates' then 'at the Iron Gate' (East of Belgrade)? Had Europe or Austria to be defended on Viennese stages through the depiction of 'Turks'?

At the time, Vienna's theatre audiences ranged from the popular ones in the suburbs (Leopoldstadt, Josephstadt, Neubau, Wieden, Landstraße), to the better educated ones in the city culminating in the Imperial Italian court opera. How could such a manifold public's historical memory have been influenced by the portrayal or non-portrayal of political events, individuals, and social contacts on the stage?

In summation, the analysis attempts to discover if and how the theatre reacted to changes in foreign policy and social parameters, as well as which traces of this can be found in performances during the second half of the eighteenth century.

 

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

 

11:00-12:30 Session IV " Mozart and Turkishness "

Chair: Michael Hüttler (Vienna)

 

Speakers:

Matthew Head (London)

Nadja Kayali (Vienna)

 

1. Matthew Head (London)

"In the Orient of Vienna": Mozart's Turkish Music (1771-1791) and the Theatrical Self

 

During their journey to Prague for the Czech premiere of The Marriage of Figaro in 1787, Mozart and his party amused themselves by adopting pseudo Slavic and quasi-Egyptian names. As Mozart announced in a letter to his friend Gottfried von Jacquin (15 January, 1787), 'dearest Hikkiti Horky! That is your name, so that you know. ... I am Punkitititi. My wife is Schabla Pumfa. Hofer is Rozka-Pumpa. Stadler is Natschibinitschbi. My servant Joseph is Sagadaratà. My dog Gouker is Schaumanuzky.' Committed to paper, these assumed names resemble a dramatis personae, as if not Figaro but another farce were about to unfold. A geographical transition - the crossing of an (uncertain) boundary between western and eastern Europe - inspired not simply alienation but imaginative belonging. As if location, like clothes, 'made the man', Mozart seizes on a new Self, however fleeting, farcical and far-removed from the rigours of the Czech language. 'Punkitititi' is less a 'new identity' than a rejection of (aspects of) the existing one: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, (dis)obedient son of Leopold Mozart, former employee of the Salzburg court orchestra. And if the mythology of Prague's special understanding of Mozart is to be believed, the Bohemians returned the compliment: 'Mozart seems to have composed for Bohemia', a local journalist wrote in 1794. 'Nowhere else is his music understood and executed better than in Prague.'

In crossing national boundaries, Mozart also crossed the boundary between theatre and everyday life. It is as if the carriage turned stage and, even without the disguise of costume, the theatrical barged in. Although in some ways exceptional, this scene of theatrical self-Othering offers a perspective on the (politically vexed) question of Mozart's 'Turkish' music not just in such stage works as the entr'acte ballet to Act 1 of Lucio Silla (titled 'Le gelosie del serraglio'), the melodrama Zaide and the singspiel Die Entführung, but purely instrumental pieces such as the Rondo alla turca, the finale of the Fifth Violin Concerto and the Orchestral Contredanse 'La Bataille'. Mozart's simulations of Janissary music, and his closely related 'alla turca' style(s) involve exchange in which the binary opposition between 'self' and 'other' is overcome (if only imaginatively and on unequal terms). Terry Castle evokes something of the character of Mozart's musical exoticisms when, in her now venerable Masquerade and Civilization, she describes eighteenth-century 'masked assemblies' as 'a kind of collective meditation on self and other ... [as] new bodies were superimposed over old; anarchic, theatrical selves displaced supposedly essential ones ... one became the other in an act of ecstatic impersonation'.

In my book, Orientalism, Masquerade and Mozart's Turkish Music, I explored the composer's 'Turkish' works in relation to Edward Said's theory of orientalism as a regime of power/knowledge, on the one hand, and the often counter-hegemonic practices of cross cultural disguise and identification endemic to Mozart's Vienna on the other. Ten years on, with the heyday of 'post-colonial theory' in musicology clearly past, I will revisit these interpretations, exploring the case for an understanding of Mozart's musical-theatrical exoticism as marked by multiple, even contradictory aesthetic and political discourses. What emerges is a picture of Mozart's music as at once aesthetic and political, as marked by everything from crusading zeal to a vision of universal brotherhood, from fantasies of Oriental despotism to visions of a benign even enchanted East. I suggest, however, that if the 'content' of Mozart's Turkish music is politically mixed, its presentation through and as mimicry, disguise and self-Othering distances it from the more high-handed ideology of 'Western musical supremacy' handed down, in the composer's name, by the twentieth-century discourses of 'Austro-German' music and 'Viennese Classical Style'. Located in 'the Orient of Vienna' (as Mozart's contemporary Ignaz von Born styled his own city in the title page of his Freemasonic tract 'On the Mysteries of the Egyptians'), Mozart's 'Turkish' music - comprising estranged and defamiliarized versions of Austrian musical figures - offered (in Castle's words) a 'fleeting, hallucinatory vision' of the self as Other via a third, enigmatically (un)familiar language.

2. Nadja Kayali (Vienna)

Mozart's 'Orient' on Stage

 

Particularly in the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in putting on stage operas about the Orient that feature music in 'alla turca', or in the 'Turkish' style. Although in this context Wolfgang Amadé Mozart's works reign supreme, more and more operas by other composers such as Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) and Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 - 1787) are being rediscovered. In this presentation, two aspects will be highlighted: on the one hand, there are the questions of how composers 'orientalized' their music and of which features they attributed to their characters to make them seem to be 'typicalʼ representatives of that region. On the other hand, it is interesting to see how today's musicians, singers, directors and producers interpret these operas, and which patterns they apply in their productions to represent the East and the West. To illustrate this, various examples from a DVD of Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio) (KV 384) will be shown, with particular emphasis on scenes featuring the overseer Osmin. In general, the paper will explore the question of how far today's productions reflect or reproduce perceptions of the Middle East.

 

12:30-14:30 Lunch Break

 

14:30-17:00 Session V (Closing Session) " Hero In Sultan's Harem "

Chair: Gertrude Durusoy ( Izmir )

 

Speakers:

Ulrike Schneider ( Weimar )

Hans-Peter Kellner (Copenhagen)

Hans Ernst Weidinger (Vienna / Florence)

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1. Ulrike Schneider (Weimar)

Between Enlightenment and the Eastern world: Oberon by Christoph Martin Wieland

 

Christoph Martin Wieland wrote his epic poem Oberon between November of 1778 and February of 1780. It was first published in a version of fourteen songs in the spring edition of Der Teutsche Merkur in 1780. In his usually humorous manner, Wieland himself wrote during the process of his work: "If the gods help us to set the right tone and to keep on track, it will become an opus suitable to be impressive to all honourable people." ("Wenn uns die Götter Gnade geben daß wir recht hübsch im Ton bleiben, und nicht abweichen weder zur rechten noch zur linken, so kann's ein opus werden, das sich vor ehrlichen Leuten sehen lassen darf", October, 3rd 1779 to Katharina Elisabeth Goethe). Even though Oberon achieved only modest success after its first publication, it became widely recognized in the German speaking world afterwards. Subsequently, it was adapted for the stage several times.

It was as early as 1789 that the actress Friederike Sophie Seyler edited Oberon for the Singspiel Hüon und Amande. Since 1790, Jens Immanuel Baggesen was in personal contact with the admired Wieland and he wrote the libretto for the romantic opera Holger Danske, oder Oberon, which was set into music by Friedrich Ludewig Aemilius Kunzen in 1789. Oberon arrived at the Viennese stage in the version edited by Karl Ludwig Giesecke and Paul Wranitzky and returned to Weimar a few years later.

In the nineteenth century Wieland's epos in its twelve song version was ascribed to the classical heritage of Weimar. It was the "right tone" mentioned by Wieland which during the second half of the twentieth century aroused criticism as well as doubts about the author's enlightened and humane attitude. In his Oberon Wieland incorporated fairytale elements in the medieval model of Huon de Bordeaux. Naturally, this affected the presentation of the oriental setting and characters. The enlightener Wieland was blamed for dissociating theoretical ideal from practical realization by presenting the Muslim characters in a stereotypically negative and discriminating way, in contrast to the Christian hero Hüon.

In this discourse, on the basis of an analysis of Wieland's presentation of the exotic setting and its oriental characters, I want to critically examine this charge of narrow-minded prejudice. A look at the realization of Wieland's concept of orient in Giesecke's libretto will complete the discourse

 

2. Hans-Peter Kellner (Copenhagen)

From the Prince of Denmark in the Sultan's Harem to Don Juan in the Royal Danish Chambers : The forgotten Composer Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen (1761-1817)

 

Lübeck. F.L.Ae. Kunzen was born in Lübeck on September 24, 1761 to a family of musicians who had been held in high regard since his grandfather, Johann Paul Kunzen (1696-1757), had composed for the Hamburg opera between 1723 and 1728. After studies of jurisprudence at the University of Kiel, Kunzen soon followed the call of his musical talent. At this point he could not have imagined the extent to which Christoph Martin Wieland's (1733-1813) world of magic and fairytales, and the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) would influence his career and haunt him for the rest of his life. Encouraged by the composer Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1747-1800) and the publisher Carl Friedrich Cramer (1752-1807), both of whom proved to be of the utmost importance throughout his career, Kunzen moved in 1784 to Copenhagen. There, in 1787, when his mentor Schulz became Kapellmeister at the Royal Theatre, Kunzen was soon given an opportunity to show his abilities as a composer. This resulted in the first Danish 'national opera,' Holger Danske (Ogier the Dane). The libretto was written by Jens Immanuel Baggesen (1764-1826) and was based on Wieland's romantic heroic poem, Oberon (1780). The opera premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen on March 31, 1789 and brought tremendous artistic success to Kunzen's music.

Holger Danske appears to be the very first opera based on Wieland's Oberon and this paper will try to answer the question of whether the Danish opera might have stood as a model for Paul Wranitzky's (1756-1808) Singspiel Oberon in Vienna later the same year. (It premiered on November 7, 1789.) Kunzen's opera also seems to be the first to combine the ever popular subject of 'Turks and Moors' with the new wave of magical fairy stories. Listening to Holger Danske today (and I would like to give a short example from the opera), one cannot help but be struck by the similarities to Mozart's music. Parallels to Die Zauberflöte are evident and elements of the Don Juan motif in the Danish opera are discernible. Another focus of the paper will therefore be Kunzen's relation to Mozart, beginning from the time when the younger composer had yet to become acquainted with the work of his famous colleague.

In spite of its great artistic success, Holger Danske was removed from the repertoire of the Copenhagen opera after only six performances following a feud never before seen in Denmark concerning cultural and nationalistic issues. Greatly disappointed, Kunzen left Copenhagen shortly thereafter and moved to Berlin where he saw Die Hochzeit des Figaro and Don Giovanni (both in German), and developed a great admiration for Mozart's music. In 1792 Kunzen was appointed in Frankfurt am Main as Musikdirektor at the newly founded Nationaltheater, and the first opera performance he was in charge of was, of all plays, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail which premiered May 6, 1792. It became an overwhelming success, as soon were Don Giovanni and especially Die Zauberflöte. Ironically, Kunzen's own work was overshadowed by the success of Wranitzky's Oberon, which already had aroused a furore in Frankfurt when it was performed for the coronation of Leopold II on October 15, 1790.

At this point, two interesting meetings occurred that should be highlighted: the first was between Mozart and one of the foremost singers in Oberon and of the era, Johanna Margaretha Antonetta Zuccarini (1766-1842), and the second occurred two years later, between the singer and Kunzen; the pair were married soon thereafter. The popularity of Wranitzky's Singspiel forced Kunzen to re-introduce it in Frankfurt in 1793, which probably made it impossible to present his own Holger Danske. Finally, however, he successfully staged his new Operette Die Weinlese oder das Fest der Winzer, which was first performed on April 4, 1793. It is not known what exactly ended Kunzen's Frankfurt contract, nor his and his wife's circumstances in 'Mozart's Prague' during 1794-95. The reportedly enormous public acclaim of his Weinlese, and his success with conducting Mozart's music there, is poorly documented. I hope to bring more light to those circumstances. When Kunzen was offered the position as Hofkapellmeister in Copenhagen, he immediately accepted and returned with his wife to his beloved city in 1795. His obligations were numerous, his salary poor, and his enthusiasm about Mozart was met with indigenous scepticism. As a consequence, Cosi fan tutte failed spectacularly in 1798. At last, the 'Mozartian' succeeded with Don Juan (1807), and ended his endeavours with the 'Turkish' opera Die Enführung aus dem Serail (1813). Did this happen to be in the esteemed presence of Constanze Mozart? - - - Curtain.

 

3. Hans Ernst Weidinger (Vienna)

"In Turchia novantuna" - Don Juan Crossing The Ottoman World

 

Why are as many as ninety-one conquests recorded in Leporello's register of the amorous acts of his master, the Dissoluto punito, in a country that was a stranger to the (semi)public permissiveness of Christian Europe and did not permit the meeting of the sexes outside the house? In summery Vienna in 1787, when Lorenzo Da Ponte (1739-1838) wrote this passage of the Dramma giocoso for his younger friend Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (1756-1791), was he just joking? Or was he thinking of a harem like that which his older friend Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was purported to have seen in 1741 when, at age sixteen, his first journey brought him to Constantinople (Constantiniyye; Istanbul since 1930) ? Da Ponte's harem must have been much larger than the average one. Was he, then, referring to the Sultan's harem? Could such a concept have been inspired by Mozart and his knowledge of Christoph Martin Wieland's (1733-1813) romantic heroic poem, Oberon (1780), a copy of which Da Ponte possessed (Leipzig 1781) and which features many motifs borrowed from, and allusions to the Don Juan story, many of which Da Ponte may have remembered?

One poetic generation later, George Gordon Lord Byron (1788-1824) provides a detailed answer to the 'harem-speculation' in his Don Juan (s.l.[London], Davison 1819). He shows us sixteen-year-old Don Juan having been shipwrecked and experiencing true love on a pirate's island (Canto II-III), sold as a slave and sent to Constantinople (IV), where he is bought anonymously on the market by a eunuch and brought to the Sultan's harem for the Sultana. Pomp and circumstance are described in detail, including the Sultan's encounter with Don Juan disguised as an odalisque (V), after which the captive does what is expected of him (VI). Later (s)he escapes to arrive at the Russian-Ottoman-Austrian war (1787-1792) in time for the siege and conquest of the Ottoman fortress Ismailia (December 1790; Canto VII-VIII). Thus Byron places Don Juan's harem adventures in the first years of Sultan III Selim's reign (1761-1808, r.1789-1807).

Or could Don Juan himself have been a Turk? In Molière's (1622-1673) Comedie Dom Juan ou Le festin de pierre (1665) - known to Da Ponte as well as to Casanova, Mozart and Byron - the Don's servant Sganarelle explicitly uses the term "Turc" to describe his master (I/1). Da Ponte shows the consequence of this in Leporello's catalogue (I/4 n°4), and Mozart seems to reflect this in Don Giovanni's Aria "Fin ch' han dal vino" (I/15: n°11 in Prague 1787, n°12 in Vienna 1788), using characteristics of his 'Turkish' style. Molière further enhances the Turkish aspect by letting his Dom Juan pursue his escapades beyond the 'Juan Tenorio Locations' of Naples, Majorca and Castile with Seville and the village of Dos Hermanas ("Two Sisters"), established in the Comedia El burlador de Sevilla y Combidado de piedra (first print: Barcelona 1630, in: Doce Comedias Nuevas de Lope de Vega Carpio, y otros autores. Segunda parte. Impreso con licencia), and mostly attributed to Tirso de Molina (1579-1648). Molière doesn't use any of those locations, yet remains in their geographic orbit on the isle of Sicily, far closer to the Ottoman powers. Could this be significant?

If so or not, where else are Don Juan's staging grounds from the subjet's first documented stage appearance in Naples in 1625 to the Prague peak in 1787? The poet of the latter, Lorenzo Da Ponte, located Il dissoluto punito. O sia Il D. Giovanni generally "in una città della Spagna" (in a town of Spain). The Salzburg Donn Joann, a play given by the salt shippers from nearby Laufen (finally written down in 1811), which Mozart could have seen in his Salzburg childhood and youth, is set in Madrid and mentions Barcelona. The Vienna scenario - adapted by Gottfried Prehauser (1699-1769) for the Kärntnertor Theatre no later than 1758 and spread throughout the German-speaking areas after 1760 when Kurtz-Bernardon (1717-1784) had left Vienna and gone on tour - is set in and around the North Italian city of Piacenza. Nearby, in Pavia and Milan, appears "D.n Giovan d' Alvarado" in a scenario of the seventeenth-century Italian Commedia all'improvviso (in Gibaldone comico, compiled Naples 1700, vol. II n. 22); this scenario previously has not been noted by Don Juan scholarship. Also not noted are those three scenarios which settle Don Juan southwest of Sicily on a tiny island kingdom off the coast of Tunis. There, on Tabarca, the hero rises in rank: no longer is he, as Tirso's Juan Tenorio has been, a state minister's son and Castilian ambassador's nephew, but now Don Giovanni is the prince, son to the ruling king and heir to the throne. One of these three scenarios, Rinegato per amore (in Gibaldone comico, vol. II n. 74), conserves the hero's name and heritage: the other two, identical but for a few details (in Ciro Monarca, compiled before 1642, nr. 25 and 46), step by step, cancel both, yet bear in their title further links to be explored in future in Lo specchio [resp. La forza d' Amore] con la Turca costante.

Like Molière's Dom Juan, the Tabarcan prince once had abducted a noble girl from a place closed for men: unlike Molière's version, this is not a damsel (Elvire) from a nunnery in Burgos (Castile), but a royal princess from a seraglio, Arlacca, the sister of the king of Tunis. Later, banished for other reasons from his native island, the prince turns to Tunis, confesses himself a renegade, calls the king his to-be-brother-in-law, obtains a "flotta turca", and on the head of his "Soldati turchi", victoriously conquers the home island kingdom, condemning his father and stepmother to execution. The very end shows that the Tabarca scenario belongs to those numerous Don Juan versions that change the final Stone Guest's handshake to lightning from the heavens. Unlike those many (en)lightened Dons, Don Giovanni di Tabarca is not finally struck by such superior force, but is brought to his senses, and all ends well with royal weddings.

Three elements can be traced back to Miguel de Cervantes: the princess' name, Arlacca, in his Comedia El baño de Argel (printed 1615); the locations of Tabarca, Tunis, and the seraglio's garden; and even further in the narration of the Cautivo (Captive) in the first part of Don Quijote (printed 1612, chapter XXXVIII-XLI). As is well known, both the play and the narration are autobiographically coloured.

The implications of these findings for Don Juan research and its odd question regarding the derivation kat' exochén of this modern European stage myth - which scholars and the public had long believed to have been answered and thus abandoned - are the subjects of the paper, a subject which requires a voyage around and across Europe.

 

17:00-17:30 Coffee Break

 

17:30-18:30 Roundtable Discussion (Comments, Reflections)

Closing Words Michael Hüttler

 

18:30-19:30 Buffet

 

19:30 Symposium Closing Program

Concert at the Austrian Cultural Forum

Melodias Epicas

Şebnem Ünal (soprano)

Renan Koen (piano)

Nermin Kaygusuz (kemençe)

Gözde Çolak (percussion)

 

 

[Veranstaltungen]

[Symposia]
[Symposia 2008]

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Letztes Update: 12.03.2015