Mini-Symposium: “Discussion of the New Production of Elektra at the New National Theatre Tokyo”
Abstract
From June to July this year, Richard Strauss’s Elektra will be performed at the New National Theatre Tokyo for the first time in 20 years, in a new production directed by Johannes Erath. In this mini-symposium, held after the conclusion of all performances, three scholars will exchange views on this new production: Yuko Sekine, a specialist in Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the librettist of Elektra, and author of Be Silent and Dance, Elektra!: Hofmannsthal’s Language Crisis and Japan (Shunpusha, 2019); Miho Morioka, who has analyzed political representation in opera productions in her long-running series in the magazine Chuo Hyoron and in Looking at the World through Opera Houses (Chuo University Press, 2013); and Takayuki Nitta, whose research focuses on aesthetic issues in contemporary opera performance. After individual presentations (20 minutes each, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A), a general discussion with the audience will take place.
Event Outline
- Time and Date: July 18 (Sat.) 2026, 16:30 – 18:30 (JST)
- Format: Hyflex (On-Campus and Online meeting (Zoom))
- Presenter: Yuko SEKINE, Miho MORIOKA, Takayuki NITTA
- Venue: Waseda University, Nishi-Waseda Campus, Room 503 of Building 52
*No advance registration is required. - Affiliation: Institute of Research in Opera and Music Theatre
- Language: Japanese
- Organized by: Institute of Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University
Profile of Presenter
SEKINE, Yuko
Dr. Yuko Sekine is a part-time lecturer at Waseda University, Meiji University, and other institutions. As a choral conductor, she specializes in Austrian cultural history, Viennese fin-de-siècle culture, and the cultural history of music. Recently, her research has focused on the relationship between text and music in Viennese musicals. She is the author of Be Silent and Dance, Elektra!: Hofmannsthal’s Language Crisis and Japan (Shunpusha, 2019), and co-author of Musicals of the World and Japanese Musicals (Shunpusha, 2017). She edited The Transformation of Elisabeth: On the Nature of Adapted Musicals (Japanese Society for German Studies Research Series, no. 155, 2024), contributing the essay “Vienna Version of ‘The Dance of Death’ vs Japanese Version of ‘The Rondo of Love and Death’.” She also co-translated the three-volume edition of The Memoirs of Brahms (Ongaku no Tomo Sha, 2025).
MORIOKA, Miho
Miho Morioka is a professor in the Faculty of Economics at Chuo University. Her research focuses on the analysis of political representation in opera productions by contemporary directors (e.g., Richard Jones, Tobias Kratzer, William Kentridge, Vasily Barkhatov). She is the author of Looking at the World through Opera Houses (2013) and the editor of Theatre and Representation: Opera, Drama, Film and Criticism (2026）. She has also contributed to Construction of Modern Japan in Gender Discourses (2003); Gender History Series, Vol. 4: Visual Representation and Music (2010); The Art of Love: An Introduction to Queer Reading (2013); Arts Updated: Film, Opera and Literature (2014); Queer Reading: The Art of Love II (2019); Renovation of the Arts (2020); An Invitation to Global Cultural History (2023).
NITTA, Takayuki
Takayuki Nitta is an adjunct researcher at the Institute of Research in Opera and Music Theatre at Waseda University, Tokyo. His research began with the methodological problems identified by New Musicology, particularly by Lawrence Kramer, and later expanded to hermeneutic analysis of audiovisual texts with a focus on opera and film. He is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on contemporary opera staging. His publications include “Postmodern Orpheus: Stefan Herheim’s Staging of Opera” (Bigaku 67:1, 2016), “Contemporary Opera Staging, or the Theatre of New Musicology: Rethinking Lawrence Kramer’s Musical Hermeneutics” (Ongakugaku 62:2, 2017), and, most recently, “Opera and Counterfactuals: Voice, Storytelling, Performance” (Hyosho 17, 2023).
Registration
Registration is required by July 17th (Fri.) for online participants. Please complete your registration via the provided URL.
https://list-waseda-jp.zoom.us/meeting/register/b3KjVbyeSVS_8tY5whx2JA
*Please show your full name on the display, mute yourself, and turn off the video, except when talking; refrain from taking screenshots, recordings, etc., and follow the moderator’s instructions.
Contact
Institute of Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University: https://prj-opera-mt.w.waseda.jp/
e-mail address: operaken-uketsuke[at]list.waseda.jp ([at] = @)
You can also find this information on Facebook and X（Twitter).
