Larry Wolff, The Singing Turk. Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on the European Stage from the Siege of Vienna to the Age of Napoleon. Stanford, 2016.

In his monograph The Singing Turk, Larry Wolff studies the processes behind the popularity of musical depictions of the Ottoman Empire on the opera stage and elaborates on what this phenomenon tells us about the relations between Europeans and Ottomans. Particular attention is given to the motif of the singing Turk. The author is Professor of History and former director of the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at New York University with research focuses i.a. on Eastern Europe, the Habsburg Monarchy, and the history of opera. A recurring topic in his research are the relations between the European East and West. Here, the idea of Western views on Eastern Europe as partial Orientalism is highly interesting, especially as it can also be transferred to other contexts such as Western images of Byzantium in Italian baroque opera for example.

In twelve chapters Wolff investigates motifs such as the captivity of the sultan or Christians, triumph, siege, and conquest, which allows for manifold connections to the research topic of cultures of war. The discussed works include, among others, Handel’s Tamerlano, Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail, Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri. Characters with corresponding historical figures frequently referred to are Tamerlane, Bajazet, Mehmed II, and Kara Mustafa. Wolff puts a special emphasis on the opera centres Venice, Vienna, and Paris. Noting that the Habsburg, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice formed the Triplex Confinium, the author highlights the special relations between these three political powers. With France rather being a common ally of the Ottoman against the Habsburg Empire, Wolff adds a complementary perspective with the third centre Paris.

The period between the siege of Vienna 1683 and the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s provides the historical frame for Wolff’s thoughts on the representation of Turkishness in opera. Antitheses such as East–West and Muslim–Christian do play a role; however, they are viewed in a very differentiated manner, i.e. both with the support of concepts of otherness and of resemblance. After all, this is specifically relevant in connection with the central issue of Wolff’s book, as he is covering a wide time frame and observing changes and individual characteristics of the respective image of the Ottoman Empire depending on the particular political and cultural perspective. For instance, he also discusses the influence of European Enlightenment on the suitability of the Ottoman Empire as an opera subject. Wolff argues that meeting a tension between interest and remaining reservations, the slightly decreasing prejudice against religious concepts as well as the growing interest in other cultures made this topic a valid choice. While Ottoman subjects can be found in abundance in operas from the 18^th century, Wolff observes that Ottoman Turks cease to appear among orientalized characters or groups in works from the 19^th century.

The author explicitly mentions that his study is not applying a musicological, but a historico-cultural approach and is dealing with the intellectual history of the investigation period. In parts, the book’s structure and line of thought lack some clarity due to its associative style. Its wide-ranging inclusion of musical works and the extensive comments on the relevant political affairs make it an inspiring reference point for musicologists who are studying operas with historical subjects involving the depiction of different ethnic and religious groups. All in all, The Singing Turk introduces a new and innovative perspective on the connection between political power relations and operatic works on Turkish subjects which only a historian can offer.