Politics, identity, and the sound of Jewishness: The reception of Halevy's la Juive in New York, 2003

Abstract

Fromental Halevy's grand opera La Juive was one of the most successful operas of its time following its premiere at the Paris Opera in 1835. Its theme of religious conflict was full of political meaning for nineteenth-century critics, but as political and social contexts shifted over time, the opera lost its political impact and the genre of grand opera became unfashionable. How was it, then, that politics resurfaced in the reception of the Metropolitan Opera's revival production of La Juive in 2003? This article examines how a focus on Jewishness in this production re-established the opera's political dimension, and suggests that the political interpretation of grand opera is not restricted..