"An Ahmanson Foundation book in the humanities"--Jacket flap.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-262) and index.
Lehrstück, opera, and the new audience contract of the epic theater -- The operatic roots of gestus in 'The mother' and 'Round heads and pointed heads' -- Fragments of opera in American exile -- 'Lucullus' : opera and national identity -- Brecht's legacy for opera : estrangement and the canon