Staging of Propaganda: Music Theatre in Nuremberg 1920-1950. A Transfer-project.

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Aesthetics and politics in fascism are not only closely related to each other, but also have a strong bond to performativity. The project seeks to analyse performances, which were arranged to act in favour of Nazi propaganda. These performances were set up on theatre stage (opera, operetta) as well as on an urbane stage (parades, festivities) to create collective experiences, especially by using music as a promoter. Nuremberg and its topography brought together historical and contemporary aspects of Nazi propaganda, being the town of Wagner s Meistersinger as well as the town of the party rallies. Accordingly, it established a perfect stage for propaganda performances. Nuremberg s music theatre in times of National Socialism was an excessive production, which was initiated by Hitler himself and highly appealed by his people. The Nazi regime picked up on the concept of the total work of art with its immersive character. Bracingly, the collective experience was made possible through this concept by aesthetically transformed political performances in music theatre. Therefore, most important, the analysis of specific performances will be in focus of the project. An analysis of the repertoire chosen by the five managing directors of the opera house between 1920 and 1950 will shed light on the aspects of continuity or discontinuity within the programming. In addition we will deal with both performances on the party rally ground and the ones in the opera house. This Transfer-project was jointly developed with two cooperation partners, the Staatstheater Nürnberg and the Dokuzentrum der Stadt Nürnberg. According to the concept of historical performance analysis modelled in the context of the Stimme-project founded by the German Research Foundation (2010-2015), we suggest to create an exhibition on the topic in order to present results of music theatre research as an event with a focus on the methodological point of view. As a further work on historical performance analysis the exhibition is to be understood as an instrument for transfer. Correspondingly, the exhibition will create its own presence based on the connection of theatrical and museum practises to visualise and communicate academic findings to a broader audience. The cooperation partners are involved from a conceptual, an artistic and practical point of view in the common work of creating the exhibition under the direction of Hermann Feuchter (stage designer and installation artist) for the congress hall on Nuremberg s party rally ground. Consisting of seven paradigmatic areas, each showing one theme in order to present the relationship between theatre and propaganda, the exhibition starts with Meistersinger and Nuremberg and continues amongst others with party rally or the building of the opera house. The show closed with an area named Götterdämmerung: With this track we attempt to present a continuous line from party festivity to the catastrophe of war and destruction.