Albert Greed

Albert Gier (* 1953 in Aachen ) is a German Romance studies and librettologist as well as a university professor .

Live and act

After graduating from the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium in Aachen , Gier studied Romance languages, German and Middle Latin philology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn . There he received his doctorate in 1976 with the dissertation " The sinner as an example: on the form and function of hagiographic texts based on the legend of Theophilus ". In 1984, Gier completed his habilitation at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg , which then took him over as professor of Romance philology. In 1987, Gier moved to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in the same position , before he accepted an appointment at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg in 1988 , where he was Professor of Romance Literature until his retirement on September 30, 2016 Among other things, he was active in literature with a focus on opera and operetta libretti and music.

At the University of Bamberg, Gier founded the “Documentation Center for Libretto Research” in 1994, which focuses on the collection of primary and secondary literature in the entire field of libretto, opera and other literature. Operetta research from the beginning to the present with the country focus on Italy and France and the epoch focus on the 17th and 18th centuries as well as contemporary music theater. Since 2003, the Documentation Center has also co-organized the so-called “Bamberg Lectures on (Music) Theater”.

In addition, Albert Gier has been a member of the scientific advisory board of the "German Rossini Society" since 1996 and is a member and first chairman of the "German Sullivan Society". In addition to his own monographs with the previous main work “Das Libretto”, he is also the editor of several specialist publications and the author of numerous articles and reviews in various specialist journals.

Fonts (selection)

• The sinner as an example: to Gestalt u. Function of hagiographic texts based on the legend of Theophilus . Lang-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1977; Dissertation, ISBN 3-261-02271-X
• The skeptic in conversation with the reader: Studies on the work of Anatole France and its reception in the French Press 1879-1905 . Niemeyer-Verlag, Tübingen 1985, ISBN 3-484-55001-5
• Opera as text. Romance contributions to libretto research (= Studia Romanica. Vol. 63). Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1986, ISBN 3-533-03728-2 .
• Albert Gier, Gerold W. Gruber (Ed.): Music and literature. Comparative studies on structural affinity (= European university publications. Vol. 127). Peter Lang, Frankfurt am et al. 1997, ISBN 3-631-46879-2 .
• The libretto: theory and history of a music-literary genre . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1998, ISBN 3-534-12368-9
• Romance studies orientation: what it can do, what it wants . Rowohlt-Taschenbuchverlag, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-499-55607-3
• Workshop reports: Theory and typology of the argomento in the Italian baroque opera libretto , Universitätspresse Bamberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86309-084-5
• Albert Gier / Meinhard Saremba / Benedict Taylor (Eds.): Sullivan Perspectives :
  • Volume 1: Arthur Sullivan's operas, cantatas, orchestral and sacred music . Oldib-Verlag, Essen 2012, ISBN 978-3-939556-29-9 ;
  • Volume 2: Arthur Sullivan's stage works, oratorios, incidental music and songs . Oldib-Verlag, Essen 2014, ISBN 978-3-939556-42-8
• It would also be nothing but a moment. Poetics and dramaturgy of the comic operetta . University press Bamberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-86309-258-0

Web links

• Personal homepage
• Research activity of Albert Gier at the University of Bamberg
• Short CV on the listen - Journal for Literature, Art and Criticism
• Interview with Albert Gier ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on BR-Klassik from November 7, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Focus on music and literature
2. ↑ Brief portrait of the Documentation Center for Libretto Research ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the German Music Information Center from June 15, 2012
3. ^ Bamberg lectures on (music) theater
4. ↑ Membership page of the Rossini Society
5. ^ German Sullivan Society
6. ↑ List of publications by Albert Gier on the pages of the University of Bamberg