A dialogue with W. Shakespeare: plot and structural features of B. BRitten’s opera “A midsummer night’s dream” through the folklore archetypes
Abstract
The article is devoted to Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” interpreted in the opera by B. Britten. The focus is on the plot and structural features of the British composer’s work, specified by the genre nature of the English writer’s play. The chosen aspect of the study provides its scientific novelty since the work of B. Britten has not yet received an exhaustive understanding in Russian or foreign musicology. The authors analyse the process of transforming the literary source into the libretto, they also consider the stages of plot composition including implementation of structure and genre patterns of myth and fairy tale in the opera. The theories of V. Propp (morphology of the fairy tale) and M. Tarakanov (operatic plot motifs) involved in the study made it possible to identify the deep connection of the figurative sphere and the compositional and dramaturgic logic of Britten’s work with the archetypal structures of ritual and myth, originally laid down in the play by W. Shakespeare.
About the Authors
O. Yu. Kolpetskaya
Dmitry Hvorostovsky Siberian State Academy of Arts
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Olga Yu. Кolpetskaya, Cand. Sc. (Art Criticism), Professor, Music History Department
Krasnoyarsk, 660049
M. V. Kholodova
Dmitry Hvorostovsky Siberian State Academy of Arts
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Maria V. Kholodova, Cand. Sc. (Art Criticism), Professor, Music History Department
Krasnoyarsk, 660049
S. G. Nadelyaeva
Independent researcher
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Svetlana G. Nadelyaeva, Independent researcher
Samara
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Review
For citations:
Kolpetskaya O.Yu., Kholodova M.V., Nadelyaeva S.G. A dialogue with W. Shakespeare: plot and structural features of B. BRitten’s opera “A midsummer night’s dream” through the folklore archetypes. ARTE. 2026;(1):18-29. (In Russ.)
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