Corigliano's opera is a prime example of camp, using allusion and quotation to present a parody-like interpretation of the history of opera. Hoffman and Corigliano have created an opera within an opera with a mixture of both fictional and historical characters. The fictional characters represent principal buffa characters from various operas by Mozart and Rossini. Corigliano creates a larger allusion to the history of opera by composing in a style that recalls the operas of Mozart, Rossini, and Verdi. At times, he even quotes from specific operas to allude to a Mozartian opera that, though it was never written, would be firmly placed in the grand history of opera between The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. This quotation of an allusion is placed into a new field of musical borrowing defined in the writings of Jean Baudrillard as simulacrum. Parody, allusion, and quotation are further supported with a cameo appearance of Marilyn Horne in a role that alludes to a previous character she popularized in the 1980s. This camp sensibility adds another dimension to Corigliano's opera as a history of the past opera and a possible future of opera.

Works: Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles (117-32).

Sources: Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (117-18, 121-28); Rossini: The Barber of Seville (117, 121); Verdi: Il Trovatore (119, 121-23).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Matthew Altizer