Don Quichotte, an opera by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Cain first performed in 1910, is one of the most suggestive examples of a transposition of a literary theme to musical theatre and of a creative adaptation of a literary source-text into an operatic libretto. This article explores the manner in which the opera creates a musical portrait of the main character and presents an interpretation of the opera’s narrative. The analysis is conducted on two levels, textual (the libretto) and musical (the score). The conclusion, apart from its summarizing function, offers an answer to the question about the attractiveness of the Don Quixote theme for musical adaptations.

The Italian-born French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and the French poet Philippe Quinault, both of whom worked at the court of King Louis XIV of France, wrote several operas ( tragédies lyriques) together. Except for the late period of their collaboration, they often employed mythical motifs as the subject of their operas. The plot of six of them is derived from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The present discussion briefly presents the beginnings of French opera and Lully’s and Quinault’s contributions to it, whereas the main concern is the influence of Ovid’s Metamorphoses on their six operas: Cadmus et Hermione ( LWV 49), Thésée ( LWV 51), Isis ( LWV 54), Proserpine ( LWV 58), Persée ( LWV 60) and Phaëton ( LWV 61). The main difference between Ovid’s text and the operas’ librettos lies in the even stronger emphasis on the theme of love, which complicates the stories.

A very particular form of reception of the Don Quijote de la Mancha is musical reception. In transcoding from narrative prose to the language of the Opera, the librettist shows his personal knowledge of the work of Miguel de Cervantes, read in the original text or in translation. Since the eighteenth century, in some librettos written in Italian, adherence to the hypotext, albeit interpreted in a new light, leads in some passages to an authentic rewriting of the play. The aim of this article is to show the processes of transcoding de Cervantes’ novels based on significant Italian librettists.

The paper deals with the problem of acoustic correction in historic opera theatres with the auditorium layout in the form of a horseshoe with deep underbalcony cavities limited with a semicircular wall surface. Both geometry of the cavities and excessive sound absorption determine acoustic phenomena registered in this area of the hall. The problem has been observed in the Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Lviv, Ukraine, where acoustic tests were carried out, simulation calculations performed, and finally a diffusion panel worked out designed for the rear wall of the underbalcony space. Acoustic measurements carried out after installation of the diffusers revealed favourable changes in the sound strength factor G within the range of medium and high frequencies in the underbalcony and auditorium centre area. By replacing textile tapestry with diffusion panels, a significant reduction of sound absorption was achieved for the frequency range above 1 kHz and an increase of uniformity of acoustic parameters registered in the hall. The method presented in the paper can be applied in historic halls of the similar type as well as contemporary rooms where there is a need for correction of acoustic flaws related to sound focusing or the echo effect.

The article offers a presentation of one of the most influential currents in contemporary Marxism. The author claims that the vitality of Marxism comes from its ability to conceptualize ongoing transformations of capitalism, mainly the new forms of productions and appropriation of social wealth. The latter day Marxists propose a materialistic theory of common good. Its main concepts (primitive accumulation, enclosure of the common fields, productive labor and re-productive labor) are of Marxian origin, but they acquire a new sense in the new context. These reinterpretations are inspired by three basic philosophical and political sources: post-operaism, radical geography and bottom-to-top history. The article analyzes the connections between these concepts and the Marxism of common good.

The purpose of the article is to show how the TV-series—one of the most important forms of television production — is incorporated into the daily routines of the spectators. Michel de Certeau perspective of applied sociology of everyday life and critical reflection on everyday life is used as a theoretical framework. In the case of TV-series, the routines can take a form of: (1) “logging in” and “reading”” TV-series, (2)movement and sociability routines, and (3) discursive development of received meanings. “Soap opera experience” consists mainly of linguistic practices cultivated while watching the series, which is a modern form of storytelling, socializing, which changes the audiences’ view of reality, its social framework for evaluation and interpretation. A viewer is critical and active; they use consumption processes as an excuse to construct their own meanings and narratives, and negotiate the meaning of what is presented to them.

The goal of this study is to assess the application of the Hardening soil model in predicting the deformation of retaining walls of excavations in 2D and 3D finite element analysis at the Ho Chi Minh Metro project. Designed as the deepest underground station in the first metro line built in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Opera House station is located in an area with a dense building zone and close to historical buildings. A summary of the input soil properties is provided using data from site investigations, in-situ tests, and laboratory tests. By numerical simulation using the Hardening soil model, the parameters of the soil stiffness modulus value are verified based on the Standard Penetration Test (SPT), and Pressuremeter test (PMT). The obtained results of the numerical analysis by 2D and 3D finite element methods, and field observations indicate that applying the Hardening soil model with soil stiffness modulus obtained in situ tests gives reasonable results on the displacement of the retaining wall at the final phase. The relationship between the SPT value and the stiffness modulus of HCMC sand is a function of depth. This correlation is obtained through the comparison of wall deformation between the simulation and monitoring at the construction site. The results of the difference between 2D and 3D finite element analysis also are discussed in this study.

This study is an exploration of formal-aesthetic correspondences between presenta-tion strategies and techniques of transforming traditional literary and musical genre conventions in Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck. It takes as its bottom line William J. Entwistle’s distinction between re-creation and recreation (he used it in his appreciation of Don Quixote and so did Erich Auerbach) and his under-standing of art as an act of reproduction (re-creation) obliged to please (recreation). Seen from that perspective, both Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Berg’s opera “suffer” from ex-cess – overmuchness and surfeit with a tangible residue of melancholy. But it is because of these surpluses that these two works are regarded as masterpieces with continuing universal appeal.