Collected Writings of Franz Liszt

In Dramaturgical Leaves: Essays about Musical Works for the Stage and Queries about the Stage, Its Composers and Performers, the third volume in Janita R. Hall-Swadley’s The Collected Writings of Franz Liszt, Liszt heralds his admiration for early nineteenth-century opera and musical stage works. Included are essays on Gluck’s Orpheus, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Weber’s Euryanthe, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer’s Night Dream, Scribe and Meyerbeer’s Robert the Devil, Schubert’s Alfonso and Estrella, Auber’s Mute from Portici, Bellini’s Montague and Capulet, Boieldieu’s White Lady, and Donizetti’s Favorite as well as essays on soprano Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Liszt’s critique of entr’acte music. This volume includes a detailed discussion of Liszt’s impact as a musical patron, a historical review of entr’acte music, the role of gender in opera, and Liszt’s concepts of Gestalt theory, the Archetype, and his musical Weltanschauung (his musical "world view"), all revealing his contribution to 19th-century music philosophy as it relates to opera.

Janita R. Hall-Swadley is a music researcher and German translator. She received her formal music training in musicology, piano performance, 19th-century philosophy, and German studies at Florida State University, The Boston Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. Her music focus is concentrated in the 19th century, especially in the independent study of the music and ideologies of Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann.