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Regulating Operatic Boundaries: Copyright and the Emergence of Cinema

 “Cinema: threat or opportunity?” It is a familiar dichotomy in operatic discourse. Although the intersection of opera and cinema is a frequent topic in recent scholarship, the earliest decades of their relationship are seldom studied. Moreover, in contrast to opera’s influence on film, the initial implications of the new media technology for opera have not yet been seriously considered. As a potential means for the dissemination of opera, however, the emergence of cinema had significant cultural and economic ramifications for the operatic world.

Focusing on Italy around 1905, this presentation considers the responses of Casa Ricordi, the foremost Italian music publisher, to the emerging cinematic medium and developing industry. Although Ricordi understood cinema and sound recording as closely related technologies, the new audio-visual medium raised distinct challenges. Examining materials in the Archivio Storico Ricordi, I argue that Ricordi leveraged the renewed discussion of copyright, catalyzed by the development of cinema, as a mechanism of economic and cultural control. Through copyright enforcement, Ricordi could regulate technological engagements with opera, particularly regarding the use of pre-recorded operatic accompaniment and the prospective production of films on operatic subjects, and set a clear precedent for future interactions between opera and cinema.

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The main issue at stake—how can opera and technology cooperate in an increasingly modernized world—strongly resonates with concerns in current discourse: has the profusion of media technology caused a crisis for opera, or can it offer a solution to questions about the state (and future) of the genre?