Biblical and Religious Themes in Romeo Castellucci’s Selected Opera and Music Theatre Stagings

Abstract

This text deals with the opera (music theatre) stage performances of the Italian theatre maker Romeo Castellucci. The author calls attention to the artist’s interpretation of operas or other works of music with a Biblical and religious background. On the example of four productions (Alessandro Scarlatti: Il primo omicidio, Richard Strauss: Salome, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem, Arthur Honegger: Jeanne d ́Arc au bûcher), she examines how Castellucci stages themes that form the objects of religious dogmas. In this study, the term dogma is not meant in a negative sense (i.e., as a limited, unilateral, manipulative interpretation), but is perceived in its original etymological sense, as a binding, normative statement in the field of faith.