The first volume of the book series
Ottoman Empire and European Theatre focuses on the period between 1756 and 1808, the era of W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) and Sultan Selim III (1761-1808). These historical personalities, whose life-spans overlap, were towering figures of their time: Mozart as an extraordinary composer and Selim III as both a politician and a composer.
Inspired by the structure of opera, the forty-four contributions of Volume I are arranged in eight sections, entitled Ouverture, Prologue, Acts I-V and Epilogue. The Ouverture includes the opening speeches of diplomats, politicians, and scholars as well as a memorial text for the "Genius of Opera", Turkish prima donna Leyla Gencer (1928-2008). The Prologue, "The Stage of Politics", features texts by distinguished historians who give an historical overview of the Ottoman Empire and Europe in the late eighteenth century, from both Turkish and Austrian points of view. Act I features texts concerning "Diplomacy and Theatre", and Act II takes the reader to "Europe South, West and North". Act III has contributions concerning theatre in "Central Europe", while Act IV deals with "Mozart" and the world of the seraglio. Act V turns our attention to the Ottoman "Sultan Selim III", and the Epilogue considers literary and theatrical adventures of "The Hero in the Sultan's Harem".
Contributions by Metin And, Emre Araci, Tülay Artan, Esin Akalin, Thomas Betzwieser, Annemarie Bönsch, Emil Brix, Christian Brunmayr, Bertrand Michael Buchmann, Aysin Candan, Helga Dostal, Erich Duda, Wolfgang Greisenegger, Heidemaria Gürer, Matthew Head, Caroline Herfert, Bent Holm, Frank Huss, Michael Hüttler, Nadja Kayali, Hans-Peter Kellner, Alexandre Lhâa, Isabelle Moindrot, Ilber Ortayli, Zeynep Oral, Cemal Öztas, William F. Parmentier, Matthias J. Pernerstorfer, Gabriele C. Pfeiffer, Walter Puchner, Günsel Renda, Mustafa Fatih Salgar, Ulrike Schneider, Selin Ipek, Käthe Springer-Dissmann, Suna Suner, Marianne Travén, B. Babür Turna, Derek Weber, Mehmet Alaaddin Yalçinkaya, Selim Yenel.
Michael Hüttler, Hans Ernst Weidinger: Editorial;
Michael Hüttler: Orientalism on Stage: Historical Approaches and Scholarly Reception;
Wolfgang Greisenegger: University of Vienna;
Ilber Ortayli: Topkapi Palace Museum Istanbul;
Metin And: Turkish Academy of Sciences;
Zeynep Oral: In Memoriam Leyla Gencer;
Bertrand Michael Buchmann: Austria's Relations with The Ottoman Empire in The Eighteenth Century;
Mehmet Alaaddin Yalcinkaya: The Ottoman Empire and Europe in The Wake of The Second Half of The Eighteenth Century;
Suna Suner: The Earliest Opera Performances in The Ottoman World and The Role of Diplomacy;
Walter Puchner: European Drama and Theatre in Seventeenth-Century Istanbul;
B. Babür Turna: The Watcher and The Watched: Ottoman Diplomatic Visitors as Spectator and Performer in Eighteenth-Century Europe;
Günsel Renda: European Ambassadors at The Ottoman Court: The Imperial Protocol in the Eighteenth Century;
Frank Huss: "Auf Türkische Art prächtig aufgeputzt" - The Visit to Vienna by The Extraordinary Ottoman Envoy, Chaddi Mustafa Efendi, in The Year 1748;
William F. Parmentier II: The Mehter - Cultural Perceptions and Interpretations of Turkish Drum and Bugle Music;
Alexandre Lhaa: Performing 'Turkish Rulers' on The Teatro alla Scala's Stage;
Esin Akalin: The Ottoman Seraglio on European Stages;
Emre Araci: "Help for The Turk" - Investigating Ottoman Musical Representations in Britain;
Bent Holm: The Staging of The Turk - The Turk in The Danish Theatre of The Eighteenth Century;
Isabelle Moindrot: The 'Turk' and The 'Parisienne' - From Favart's Soliman Second, ou Les Trois Sultanes (1761) to Les Trois Sultanes (Pathe, 1912);
Thomas Betzwieser: Ottoman Representation and Theatrical Alla Turca - Visiting an Unknown Viennese Source of 'Turkish' Incidental Music;
Michael Hüttler: 'Turks' on The Late Eighteenth Century's Stage - a Research Project based on The Viennese Repertoire; Matthias J. Pernerstorfer: The Second Turkish Siege of Vienna (1683) Reflected in its First Centenary - 'Anniversary Plays' in The Palffy Theatre Library, Vienna;
Erich Duda: Mozart's Pupil and Friend - Franz Xaver Süssmayr's Sinfonia Turchesca, Il Turco in Italia, and Soliman der Zweite;
Gabriele C. Pfeiffer: Freemason, Mozart's Contemporary, and Theatre Director on the Edge - Franz Kratter's Der Friede am Pruth (1799). Cataloguing The Komplex Mauerbach, Vienna.
Matthew Head: In The Orient of Vienna - Mozart's Turkish Music and The Theatrical Self;
Marianne Traven: Getting Emotional - Mozart's Turkish Operas and The Emotive Aspect of Slavery;
Derek Weber: From Zaide to Die Entführung aus dem Serail - Mozart's 'Turkish' Operas;
Nadja Kayali: Mozart's 'Orient' on Stage;
Annemarie Bönsch: 'Turkish' and 'Exotic' References in The European Fashion;
Selin Ipek: European Influences on Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Imperial Fashion;
Tülay Artan: A Composite Universe - Arts and Society in Istanbul at The End of The Eighteenth Century;
Caroline Herfert: 'German Poet and Turkish Diplomat' - Murad Efendi, Ottoman Consul in Temeswar, and The Tragedy Selim der Dritte;
Günsel Renda: Selim III as Patron of The Arts
Mustafa Fathis Salgar: Selim III as a Man of Letters and Art;
Aysin Candan: The Play World of Selim III;
Ulrike Schneider: Between Enlightenment and Orient - Oberon by Christoph Martin Wieland;
Hans-Peter Kellner: The Forgotten Composer Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen;
