The Queen's Throat

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The Queen's Throat
The Queen's Throat.jpg
Author Wayne Koestenbaum
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Opera
Published1993
Media typePrint

The Queen's Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire is a 1993 book by Wayne Koestenbaum.

Summary

Koestenbaum explores the relationship between gay men and opera, with frequent reference to his own experiences. [1] In particular, he finds a strong identification of the "opera queen" with the "diva." [2] His connection between the two is the voice: he describes it as genderless, and it both allows female singers to become vicarious surrogates for closeted or fearful male listeners, and proves that the body of the opera singer and the queer body are both restrained. [3]

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References

  1. Kopelson, Kevin (Spring 1994). "Tawdrily, I Adore Him". 19th-Century Music. 17 (3): 274–285. doi:10.2307/746570. JSTOR   746570.
  2. Clum, John M. (May 1994). "Opera without Queens/Queens without Opera". Performing Arts Journal. 16 (2): 107–115. doi:10.2307/3245765. JSTOR   3245765. S2CID   192219392.
  3. Hadlock, Heather (November 1993). "Peering Into The Queen's Throat". Cambridge Opera Journal. 5 (3): 265–275. doi:10.1017/s0954586700004067. JSTOR   823809. S2CID   191470104.