What happens when operas that are comfortably ensconced in the canon are thoroughly rethought and radically recast on stage? What does a staging do to our understanding of an opera, and of opera generally? While a stage production can disrupt a work that was thought to be established, David J. Levin here argues that the genre of opera is itself unsettled, and that the performance of operas, at its best, clarifies this condition by bringing opera’s restlessness and volatility to life.

Unsettling Opera explores a variety of fields, considering questions of operatic textuality, dramaturgical practice, and performance theory. Levin opens with a brief history of opera production, opera studies, and dramatic composition, and goes on to consider in detail various productions of the works of Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, and Alexander Zemlinsky. Ultimately, the book seeks to initiate a dialogue between scholars of music, literature, and performance by addressing questions raised in each field in a manner that influences them all.

"In terms of its performance, opera is still an under researched area. David Levin's book brings light into this darkness. By introducing performance theory to opera studies, he opens up a completely new perspective on opera. Levin reveals to readers that it is only through performance that the unsettledness inherent to opera comes to life. The brilliant argument profits enormously from the author's elaborate tool kit of a nuanced analytic vocabulary. For everyone interested in opera, Levin's book is an absolute must."

“This rigorous and generous book affirms David Levin’s preeminence in interdisciplinary opera studies today. Unsettling Opera means recognizing and empowering opera’s cultural importance and responsibility. If Wagner reminds us that music drama always involves orchestra, singing characters, and the stage, Levin complements that structural grid with an historical one. Canonic works continue to come alive at the present moment of performance, he shows, and that present moment is contingent on dramaturgical urgency, incisiveness, and integrity. This is a study that will bring together practitioners and scholars in energized recognition of a challenge they share but do not always compare.”

“Unsettling Opera is original, full of ideas, and entertaining as well. David Levin has an important and timely subject and he writes about it with passion, brio, and intelligence. He gracefully makes a persuasive case for the ways operas work and how creative opera productions can revivify texts often covered in layers of nineteenth-century upholstery.”

“David Levin is one of the few scholars who functions effectively as both a literary critic in the University and a practical dramaturg in the opera house. His fascinating book demonstrates how critical readings of music and text can generate stagings that challenge and compel. Through Levin’s analyses, we understand the limitations inherent in traditional methods and the considerable advantages to be gained when a director stages his critical reading of a work. As theaters in America adopt increasingly this approach, which has previously been seen mostly on European stages, Levin’s book offers an indispensable guide.”

“David Levin’s new book has as its object some of the best-known works in the operatic canon, and offers a bold new contribution to the anguished debate over the ‘radical’ staging they often receive today. His unsettling conclusions won't please everybody; and quite right too. They will, though, make us all think harder about how and why, against all reasonable odds, opera continues to matter in the twenty-first century.”