Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1986 - 20

BOOK REVI EWS

Scenic and Costume Design for the
Ballets Russes by Robert C. Hansen.
Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985.
0-8357-1681-3, 232 pp., ill., cloth
ISB
S39.95.
Serge Diaghilev deserves to have his
name emblazoned across the cover of this
valuable study of his Ballets Russes. Robert
C. Hansen deftly establishes his thesis that
it was Diaghilev's own esthetic principles
that determined the choice of artist as well
as choreographer and composer for each
work in the company's twenty years of creativity. Hansen integrates descriptions of the
productions with aptly selected quotations
from memoirs of designers and performers,
giving the reader insight into the activity at
the rehearsal halls and studio workshops of
Paris and Monte Carlo. Furthermore, Hansen traces the continuity of creativity from
Diaghilev's apprenticeship with St. Petersburg's Nevsky Pickwickians through his editorship of Mir !skussrva, his exhibitions,
and his career as an entrepreneur of concerts' opera and ballet.
The format of the book, a chronological
analysis of individual artists, is unusual for
studies of the Ballets Russes which generally
trace the company season by season. This
format fits Hansen's thesis, and allows for
a discussion of the alterations in scenic elements and costumes that accompanied the
troupe's revivals of past works. The format
also allows Hansen to discuss non-dance
creations sponsored by Diaghilev including
operas, recitals, and charity events.
It is unfortunate that Hansen does not
include make-up, props, or hair design in
his descriptions and analyses of the artists'
contributions to the Ballets Russes repertory. These elements were often necessary
for the full impact of the designs as performed. Certainly, a discussion of the
make-up in Benois' Perroushka that immobilizes the dancer's facial expressions, or the
stylized braids that the Bride in Gontcharova's Les Noces releases into the chorus
could have been mentioned.
The publishers may be criticized for the
illustrations which are disappointingly
small and all in black and white. Hansen
does, however, suggest a bibliography in his
introduction that can be used as a source
for color illustrations of the designs about
which he writes. I found fault with the captions which fail to distinguish among photographs of costumes (e.g. from the Parke
Bernet auction catalogs), designs for cos18

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tumes, or photographs of stage action
showing costumes as worn.
This is a \"aluable work for design students and historians. Dance historians will
find it useful as well and libraries should
purchase it to augment Iheir collections of
"picture books."
Barbara Cohen - Stratyner
Editor, Pelforllling Arrs Resources

Buildings for Music: the Architect,
the Musician, and the Listener from
the Seventeenth Century to the
Present Day by Michael Forsyth. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press,
1985. ISB 0-262-06089-2, vii+372 pp.,
ill., 530.00 cloth.
Michael Forsyth provides a detailed historical overview of the design of western
buildings used for musical performances
from the 17th century to the present day. By
focusing on what he refers to as the "architecturally innovative" facilities, the author
traces the evolution of musical building design as it relates to performance requirements. In addition, through a comparative
study of these historical facilities, Forsyth
examines the major political and social
forces which affected building design, as
well as the major architects who dominated
a given period. This book does not focus on
scenic design, or for that matter, stage machinery. It does, however, present an intriguing study of the development of musical
performance facilities and can be highly recommended for those who are interested in
the history of theatrical architecture, or
contemporary auditorium design.
In alternating chapters, Forsyth traces
the evolution of the opera house and the
concert hall. The author begins his study
with an examination of acoustics. He commences with a clear description of the twO
approaches as propounded by Hope Bagenal, an English acoustician-the ca\'e concept, and the open air concept. From the
cave, where reverberation exists, grew the
concert hall and from the open air classical
amphitheat re grew the t heat re where spoken
\'oice is emphasized. The author points OUI
Ihat through the ages these concepts ha\'e
been implemented many \·ariations. II was
not until the late 18th century Ihat room
acoustics became scientifically prediclable.

USITT SUIlllller 1986

Editor: T. Mikotowicz

This occurred most notably through the
work of Lord Rayleigh, who published The
TheolY of Sound in 1878, and the work of
Wallace Clement Sabine in the United
States, who developed mathematical formulas while working on the world-renowned
Boston Symphony Hall which opened in
1900.
The book covers such concert facilities
as the Redoutensaal built in 1752 in Vienna
and designed by Antonio Galli - Bibiena,
the Royal Albert Hall built in 1871 in London and designed by Captain Francis
Fowkes and Lieutenant Colonel H. Y. D.
Scott, and ew York's Carnegie Hall built
in 1891 and designed by architect William
B. Tuthill. The opera houses which are covered in the book include such diversely designed facilities as the effusively elaborate
Theatre 'ational de l'Opera built in 1875 in
Paris by Charles Garnier, and the spare, yet
functional Festspielhaus built by OltO
Bruckwald for Richard Wagner in 1876 in
Bayreuth.
The author analyzes these facilities in
terms of the major forms that musical performance spaces take, such as the U shape,
the horseshoe, the shoebox, the bell, the
fan, the ellipse, the circular, and the semicircular. In addition, he details the effects
of such building materials as stone, plaster,
wood, and cloth and the shape of ceilings on
auditorium acoustics. Forsyth's analysis is
enhanced by his addition of interesting
facts. For example, up until the introduction of fire and building codes in the late
191h century, the average life of a large facility was only eighteen years.
In the final chapter, Forsyth describes
future trends by describing the effect of
electronics on musical performances. He
traces the avant-garde experiments performed by Karlheinz Stockhausen and John
Cage, as well as examining the more traditional workshop facility, Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustiquel
i\lusique in Paris. One major fault in this
book lies in its omission of current avantgarde composers of opera and music, such
as Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, Richard
Foreman, and \;Ieredith Monk, whose works
are internationally known and who are using traditional performance spaces in the
presentation of Iheir work.
Contained within the book are many reproductions of etchings, oils, gouaches, and
watercolor paintings, as well as photographs, and elevational, sectional and plan
view construclion drawings, i\lany of the
beautiful reproductions are in color, leading

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1986