Shapinskaya, E. N. Benjamin Britten in Modern (Trans)Cultural Space: Composer’s Writings and Interpretation Contexts. To the Jubilee of the Composer

Abstract: The article is devoted to opera writing by Benjamin Britten due to the problems of interpretation and perception of artwork in different cultural environments. Global cultural processes have made the artwork that was not so famous due to socio-cultural, language and communication factors, more available for general public. Music is viewed as a cultural text that inevitably changes its semantics as soon as it enters the other cultural environment. Keeping the balance between ‘authentic’ meaning and contextually determined mostly depend on an interpreter’s position and strategy. The author of the article analyzes Britten’s three plays ‘Albert Herring’, ‘Billy Budd’ and ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ staged by English producers but shown in different cultural environments: in the composer’s homeland, at international opera festival and a different cultural environment (Russia in particular). The article is devoted to the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten celebrated in 2013.

Keywords: