Professor Clair Rowden
PhD MA BMus (Hons) FHEA

Professor of Musicology

: Available for postgraduate supervision

I am a graduate of Goldsmith's College, University of London, and gained my PhD at City University, London in 2002.

My research deals mainly with musical theatre and nineteenth-century France, and I have published widely on the critical reception and cultural history of opera, stage production, dance, iconography and press caricature.

I am co-director of CIRO (Cardiff Interdisciplinary Research in Opera and Drama) which works in close collaboration with Welsh National Opera and other performing and professional institutions, and I regularly write programme notes and give pre-performance talks for major opera houses and festivals in Europe.

I have held visiting fellowships in France, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico and Finland.

2023

Rowden, C. 2023. Ohé! les p’tits agneaux! A Parisian revue de fin d’année for 185, ed. Richard Sherr [Book Review]. Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 79(4), pp. 651-654.
Rowden, C. and San Martín Arbide, L. 2023. #JeSuisCarmen [Programme Note]. Paris: Opéra-Comique.
Rowden, C. 2023. ‘¿Por qué eres Romeo?’ [Programme Note].Gago, L. Bilbao: Bilbao Opera.
Rowden, C. 2023. ‘Operatic gems: Adelina Patti, prerogative and paste’. In: Talasniemi, J., Broman-Kananen, U. and Koivisto-Kaasik, N. eds. “Her creative process”: pathways to music history and performance. Festschrift for Anne Kauppala. DocMus Research Publications Helsinki: Univeristy of the Arts Helsinki, pp. 79-98.
Rowden, C. 2023. ‘Anne Charton-Demeur: a “classical” diva’. Berlioz Society Bulletin 219, pp. 18-35.

2022

Rowden, C. 2022. Hugh Macdonald, Saint-Saëns and the stage: Operas, plays, pageants, a ballet and a film [Book Review]. Fontes Artis Musicae 69(1), pp. 59-63. (10.1353/fam.2022.0002)
Rowden, C. 2022. Hérodias et les Salomé des scènes parisiennes. In: Reynaud, C. and Séginger, G. eds. Berlioz, Flaubert et l’Orient. Paris: Le Passage, pp. 226-237.
Rowden, C. 2022. Stéphane Leteuré, Croquer Saint-Saëns: Une histoire de la représentation du musicien par la caricature [Book Review]. La Revue de Musicologie 108(2), pp. 505-507.

2021

Rowden, C. 2021. Catholicism and moral philosophy in nineteenth-century France. In: Dufetel, N. ed. Religious Music in Ninteenth-Century France. Turnhout: Brepols

2020

Smith, R. L. and Rowden, C. 2020. 'Carmen' at home and abroad. In: Carmen Abroad: Bizet's Opera on the Global Stage. Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-25.
Rowden, C. and Arbide, L. S. M. 2020. Final féministe: les défis de la mise en scène au XXIème siècle. #JeSuisCarmen. In: Lozier, C. and Marc, I. eds. Carmen Revisitée / Revisiter Carmen: Nouveaux Visages d'Un Mythe Transversal. Comparatisme Et Société / Comparatism and Society Peter Lang, pp. 159-174.
Rowden, C. 2020. Opera and parody in Paris, 1860-1900. Music and Visual Cultures. Brepols.
Rowden, C. 2020. Charles Gounod, Cantates et musique sacrée - Flemish Radio Choir and the Brussels Philharmonic, Hervé Niquet cond - Includes book of essays in French and English edited by Alexandre Dratwicki - Collection Prix de Rome, vol. 6 - Ediciones Singulares 1030, 2017 (2 CDs: 127 minutes). Nineteenth-Century Music Review 17(2), pp. 297-300. (10.1017/S1479409818000605)
Smith, R. L. and Rowden, C. eds. 2020. Carmen abroad: Bizet's opera on the global stage. Cambridge University Press.
Rowden, C. 2020. 'Carmen' faces Paris and the provinces. In: Langham Smith, R. and Rowden, C. eds. Carmen Abroad: Bizet's Opera on the Global Stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45-63.
Rowden, C. 2020. The sopranos, Parisian style, 1869. In: Opera as Institution: Networks and Professions (1730-1917). LIT Verlag, pp. 119-134.

2019

Rowden, C. 2019. “Le Tétraque se perdait dans un rêve”: concordance between Flaubert’s Hérodias and Hérodiade by Milliet, Grémont and Massenet. Flaubert: Revue Critique et Génétique 21
Rowden, C. 2019. Carmen: Life and death on stage in the 21st century. Cardiff: Welsh National Opera.

2018

Rowden, C. 2018. Deferent daisies: Caroline Miolan Carvalho, Christine Nilsson and Marguerite, 1869. Cambridge Opera Journal 30(2-3), pp. 237-258. (10.1017/S0954586719000089)
Rowden, C. 2018. Reinventing 'Carmen'. Opera 69(2), pp. 139-144.
Rowden, C. and Langham Smith, R. 2018. Carmen abroad: The when and where of Carmen performances, 1875-1945. [Online]. Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.carmenabroad.org/

2017

Rowden, C. 2017. 'Du grand au petit': Faust on Parisian stages in 1869. In: Niccolai, M. and Rowden, C. eds. Musical Theatre in Europe 1830-1945. Speculum Musicae Turnhout: Brepols
Rowden, C. 2017. Parodying opera in Paris: Tannhäuser on the popular stage, 1861. In: Kauppala, A., Broman-Kananen, U. and Hesselager, J. eds. Tracing Operatic and Theatrical Performances in the Long 19th Century: Practices, Performers, Peripheries. DocMus Research Publications Helsinki: Sibelius Academy, pp. 43-82.
Niccolai, M. and Rowden, C. eds. 2017. Musical theatre in Europe 1830-1945. Turnhout: Brepols.
Rowden, C. and Niccolai, M. 2017. Introduction. In: Rowden, C. and Niccolai, M. eds. Musical Theatre in Europe 1830-1945. Brepols

2016

Rowden, C. 2016. Bizet. By Hugh Macdonald. The Bizet Catalogue. By Hugh Macdonald [Review]. Music and Letters 97(2), pp. 355-356. (10.1093/ml/gcw024)
Rowden, C. 2016. In the power of Venus, yet in union with Christ: Jules Massenet’s ‘comédie lyrique’ Thaïs’, Salzburger Festspiele programme (Austria) [Programme note]. Salzburger Festspiele programme.

2015

Rowden, C. S. 2015. Loie Fuller and Salome: The unveiling of a myth. In: Lee, H. and Segal, N. eds. Opera, Exoticism and Visual Culture. Cultural Interactions: Studies in the Relationship between the Arts Vol. 34. Peter Lang, pp. 93-110.
Rowden, C. 2015. ‘From the fairground to the heights of French art : Opéra comiqueand Le Pré aux clercs’, 64th Wexford Festival Opera 2015 Season programme [Programme notes]. 64th Wexford Festival Opera 2015 Season programme.

2014

Rowden, C. S. 2014. 'Thais': adaptation, degeneration and intermediality. Dix-Neuf 18(2), pp. 134-149. (10.1179/1478731814Z.00000000049)
Rowden, C. S. 2014. La Dramaturgie de Gustave Charpentier. By Michela Niccolai. Music and Letters 95(2), pp. 299-302. (10.1093/ml/gcu025)
Bizet, G. 2014. Carmen. {Musical Score: Vocal Score}.
Rowden, C. S. 2014. The other 'Salome'. Opera, pp. 1234-1241.
Rowden, C. S. 2014. Memorialisation, commemoration et commercialisation: Massenet et la caricature. In: Branger, J. and Giroud, V. eds. Massenet aujourd’hui : Héritage et postérité. Publications de l'Universite de Saint-Etienne, pp. 39-64.
Rowden, C. S. 2014. Wilde's 'Salome': a very modern French affair. Wexford Festival Opera.

2013

Rowden, C. S. 2013. Whose/who's Salome? Natalia Trouhanowa, a dancing diva. In: Rowden, C. S. ed. Performing Salome, Revealing Stories. Ashgate Interdisciplinary Studies in Opera Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 71-98.
Rowden, C. S. 2013. Introduction. In: Rowden, C. S. ed. Performing Salome, Revealing Stories. Ashgate Interdisciplinary Studies in Opera Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 1-14.
Rowden, C. S. ed. 2013. Performing Salome, revealing stories. Ashgate Interdisciplinary Studies in Opera. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Rowden, C. S. 2013. Memorialisation, commemoration and commodification: Massenet and caricature. Cambridge Opera Journal 25(2), pp. 139-163. (10.1017/S0954586713000049)
2013. Salome. [Online]. Francophone Music Criticism 1789-1914. Available at: http://music.sas.ac.uk/fmc
Rowden, C. S. 2013. Jann Pasler, ed., Camille Saint-Saëns and his world. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2012. [Book Review]. H-France Review 13(40), pp. 1-7.
Rowden, C. S. 2013. Choral music and music making in France. In: Di Grazia, D. M. ed. Nineteenth-Century Choral Music. Routledge Studies in Musical Genres Abingdon. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 205-212.
Bizet, G. 2013. Carmen. {Musical Score}.

2012

Rowden, C. S. 2012. The Choral Music of Félicien David, Charles Gounod, and Jules Massenet. In: Di Grazia, D. M. ed. Nineteenth-Century Choral Music. Routledge Studies in Musical Genres London: Routledge
Rowden, C. S. 2012. La Reception des Pecheurs de Perles [Programme note]. Opera Comique, Paris, pp. 71-76.

2011

Rowden, C. S. 2011. The End of the Fairytale [Programme note]. In: Cendrillon. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 12-19.
2011. Massenet, La Navarraise. Paris premiere. Dossier de presse. [Online]. Francophone Music Criticism, 1789-1914: Institute of Musical Research. Available at: http://music.sas.ac.uk/fmc/collections.html
2011. Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana, Paris premiere. Dossier de presse. [Online]. Francophone Music Criticism, 1789-1914: Institute of Musical Research. Available at: http://music.sas.ac.uk/fmc/collections.html
Rowden, C. S. 2011. Salome and modern opera: a Parisian perspective. In: Brosche, G. et al. eds. Richard Strauss-Jahrbuch 2011: Richard Strauss im Europäischen Kontext. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, pp. 163-176.
Moore, R., Hamer, L. and Branger, A. 2011. Complete criticism of Joseph d’Ortigues. [Online]. Francophone Music Criticism 1789-1914: Institute of Musical Research. Available at: http://music.sas.ac.uk/fmc/collections.html
Rowden, C. S. 2011. Annegret Fauser & Mark Everist (eds.), Music, Theater, and Cultural Transfer: Paris 1830-1914 (University of Chicago Press, 2009), 439 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-23926-2. [Book Review]. H: France 11(99)

2010

Rowden, C. S. 2010. 'Les Pêcheurs' and the Parisian Press [Programme note]. In: Les Pêcheurs de Perles. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 27-34.
Rowden, C. S. 2010. A Source of Lyricism [Programme note]. In: Roméo et Juliette. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 32-36.
Rowden, C. S. 2010. Sentiment and Reminiscence [Programme note]. In: Manon. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 25-31.
Rowden, C. S. 2010. Andreas Giger, Verdi and the French Aesthetic: Verse, Stanza, and Melody in Nineteenth-Century Opera (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). x + 294pp. £52.00 [Book Review]. Nineteenth-Century Music Review 7(2), pp. 129-132. (10.1017/S1479409800003657)
Rowden, C. S. 2010. An Introduction to the Dramatic Works of Giacomo Meyerbeer: Operas, Ballets, Cantatas, Plays. By Robert Ignatius Letellier. [Book Review]. Music and Letters 91(3), pp. 441-444. (10.1093/ml/gcq031)
Rowden, C. S. 2010. Loïe Fuller et Salomé: Les drames mimés de Gabriel Pierné et de Florent Schmitt. In: Branger, J. ed. Musique et Chorégraphie en France de Léo Delibes à Florent Schmitt. Musicologie - Cahiers de l'Esplanade Vol. 6. Saint-Etienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne, pp. 215-259.

2009

Rowden, C. S. 2009. Alexandra Wilson, The Puccini Problem: Opera, Nationalism and Modernity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), ISBN 978-0-521-85688-1 (hb) [Book Review]. twentieth-century music 6(1), pp. 115-118. (10.1017/S1478572210000083)
Rowden, C. S. 2009. Opera, caricature and the unconscious: Massenet’s 'Thaïs', a case study. Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography XXXIV(1-2), pp. 274-289.

2008

Rowden, C. S. 2008. Massenet and the 'Manon' score [Programme note]. In: Manon. London: Royal Opera House presents The Royal Ballet, pp. 19-24.
Rowden, C. S. 2008. Decentralisation and regeneration at the Théâtre des Arts, Rouen, 1889-1891. Revue de Musicologie 94(1), pp. 139-180.
Rowden, C. S. 2008. Berlioz and Debussy: Sources, Contexts and Legacies: Essays in Honour of François Lesure [Book Review]. Musicology Australia 30(1), pp. 141-143. (10.1080/08145857.2008.10416750)
Rowden, C. S. 2008. French Music Since Berlioz [Book Review]. Musicology Australia 30(1), pp. 135-140. (10.1080/08145857.2008.10416749)

2007

Rowden, C. S. 2007. Cinderella takes a Roman holiday [programme note]. In: La Cenerentola. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 9-12.
Rowden, C. S. 2007. Werther, La Navarraise and Verismo: A Matter of Taste. Franco - British Studies: journal of the British Institute in Paris 37, pp. 3 -34.
Rowden, C. S. 2007. Massenet and 'Thaïs': the religious context [programme note]. In: Thaïs. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 29-33.

2006

Rowden, C. S. 2006. David Charlton (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). 496 pp. $29.99 [Book Review]. Nineteenth-Century Music Review 3(1), pp. 122-125. (10.1017/S1479409800000380)
Rowden, C. S. 2006. L'amour sacré et le sacre de l'amour: l'homme saint chez Massenet. In: Ramaut, A. and Branger, J. eds. Opéra et Religion sous la IIIe République. Travaux Vol. 129. Saint-Etienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne, pp. 257-284.

2004

Rowden, C. S. 2004. 'The island’s full of noises, sounds and voices': l’écriture vocale de Thomas Adès [Programme note]. In: Avant-Scène Opéra: Thomas Adès 'The Tempest'. Vol. 222. Paris: Avant-Scène Opéra, pp. 80-83.
Rowden, C. S. 2004. 'Werther' at home and abroad [programme note]. In: Werther. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 43-48.
Rowden, C. S. 2004. Meyerbeer [Book Review]. Nineteenth-Century Music Review 1(2), pp. 139-141. (10.1017/S1479409800001506)
Rowden, C. S. 2004. Julian Rushton, The Music of Berlioz (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). xv + 363pp. £50 (hb) £21.99 (pb) [Book Review]. Nineteenth-Century Music Review 1(2), pp. 112-115. (10.1017/S1479409800001415)
Rowden, C. S. 2004. Republican morality and Catholic tradition in opera: Massenet's Hérodïade and Thaïs. Etudes sur l'opéra français du XIXème siècle Vol. 6. Weinsberg: Musik-Edition Lucie Galland.
Rowden, C. S. 2004. Paris – Londres : 'La Navarraise' face à la presse. In: Branger, J. and Ramaut, A. eds. Le Naturalisme sur la scène lyrique. Musicologie - Cahiers de L'Esplanade Vol. 3. Saint-Etienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne, pp. 106-128.

2003

Rowden, C. S. 2003. Explosive Opera: 'La Navarraise' face à la critique londonienne [Programme note]. In: Avant-Scène Opéra: Massenet 'Sapho', 'La Navarraise'. Paris: Avant-Scène Opéra, pp. 80-81.
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Hérodiade [Dictionary entry]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Thais [Dictionary entry]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Cendrillon [Dictionary entry]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Grisélidis [Dictionary entry]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. La Navarraise [Dictionary entry]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame [Dictionary article]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Chérubin [Dictionary entry]. In: Fauquet, J. ed. Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle. Paris: Fayard
Rowden, C. S. 2003. Review: Reading Critics Reading: Opera and Ballet Criticism in France from the Revolution to 1848 [Book Review]. Music and Letters 84(2), pp. 300-302. (10.1093/ml/84.2.300)

2002

Rowden, C. S. 2002. 'Hérodiade': Church, State and the Feminist Movement. Presented at: Tenth International Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, Bristol, UK, July 1998 Presented at Samson, J. and Zon, B. eds.Nineteenth-Century Music: Selected Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference. London: Ashgate pp. 250-278.

2000

Rowden, C. S. ed. 2000. Jules Massenet, Thaïs: dossier de presse parisienne (1894). Critiques de l'opéra français du XIXe siècle. Heilbronn: Musik-Edition Lucie Galland.

1998

Rowden, C. S. 1998. 'Hérodiade': anticlerical, imperial or republican opera?. British Postgraduate Musicology 2, pp. 2-15.

My research focuses on nineteenth-century opera and France, from music editing and archival study to microhistory and reception studies, and including operatic staging and dance, iconography and gender.

Current research projects are on Saint-Saëns in Britain (to coincide with the Centenary Conference 'Saint-Saëns beyond Borders', which I am co-organising with Prof Barbara Kelly at the RNCM, February 2022) and on singers' jewellery in the long nineteenth-century.

Recent publications include Opera and Parody in France, 1860-1900 (Brepols, 2020) and Carmen Abroad, co-edited with Richard Langham Smith (Cambridge University Press, 2020). This collection is supplemented by the continually evolving website and online publication platform CarmenAbroad.org, supported by an BA/Leverhulme grant, which richly documents - via a global map, timeline, images and individual information pages - performances of Carmen across the world before 1945.

I am co-director of CIRO (Cardiff Interdisciplinary Research in Opera and Drama) with Dr Monika Hennemann and work closely with Welsh National Opera and its Friends association to provide a range of knowledge transfer events around the operatic seasons and on more broader issues relating to opera. I have organised (or co-organised) a number of events and symposia:

Forthcoming September 2021, Caruso Centenary public event, in collaboration with Cardiff University Leverhulme Fellow Dr Barbara Gentili, Welsh National Opera
February 2020, Discover Verdi's Les Vêpres siciliennes, Public event, Cardiff University
September 2019, Carmen: Performance, Performers and Productions, Public event, Cardiff University
March 2019, Understanding Opera: Adventures in Surtitling, Public study day, Welsh National Opera
June 2017, Carmen Singer of the World, international conference in collaboration with BBC Cardiff Singer of the World
February 2017, Opera creation, translation and surtitling, Public study day, Welsh National Opera
November 2016, International Artistic Creation during WWI, National Museum Cardiff
May 2016, Mametz Wood, poetry and song, Public study day in collaboration with Welsh National Opera, Wales Millennium Centre
May 2014, International Interdisciplinary Symposium: Translation in Music, Cardiff University

The Commemorating WWI: Conflict and Creativity project (2016) was supported by an AHRC Cultural Encounters Fellowship.

I am an international steering group member of the research network 'France: Musiques, Cultures 1789-1918', and have been responsible for the preparation of on-line editions of various corpora of nineteenth-century French music criticism made available as part of the FMC's creation of a valuable web resource for researchers.

At undergraduate level, I teach modules on French and Italian opera in the nineteenth century, the business of opera, musical theatre, and music in Paris 1850-1900.

I supervise undergraduate dissertations on a wide range of topics from comparative literary studies of opera (e.g. Alexandre Dumas fils' La Dame aux camélias and Verdi's La traviata), through Russian nineteenth-century ballet, via the mega-musical in London's West End during the Thatcherite era, to Beyoncé and modern feminism.

At Masters level, I contribute to a number of team taught modules on gender, reception history, press critcisim, micro-history, archives, intertextuality and intermediality, programme note writing, academic writing, etc.

Education and Qualifications

2009: FHEA, Cardiff University

2002: PhD City University, London

1996: MA (Performance), City University, London

1994: DALF, Institut français, London

1992: BMus (Hons), Goldsmiths' College, University of London

Professional memberships

Member of the Royal Musical Association (Council member, 2011-2013)
Member of the American Musicological Society

Academic positions

Visiting lecturer at City University
Visiting lecturer at Université de Rouen
Visiting lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London

Committees and reviewing

Peer reviewer, Cambridge Opera Journal, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Music and Letters, Open Theology, Diplomatica: A journal of diplomacy and society
Peer reviewer, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Ashgate (Routledge)
Grant reviewer, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK)
Editorial board, Studies in Music, Dance and Theatre Iconography, Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag, Vienna

I'm happy to supervise PhDs on all areas of opera studies, both musicological and practice-based research, as well as French music and music in France during the long nineteenth century, and gender studies.

Current supervision

Kerry Bunkhall

Graduate Tutor

Contact Details

RowdenCS@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 70462

Outstanding Edited Collection Award for School of Music academic