Opera for Children "#FOLON": Symbols and Signs

The purpose of the article is to explore the latest approaches to the interpretation of modern opera for children, dramaturgical and stylistic features; personality formation and the role of musical theater as a tool of socialization, using the example of the opera "#FOLON" by the Italian composer N. Campogrande.The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach, covering aspects of musicology and cultural studies in the field of modern musical theater. General scientific and special methods were used: descriptive; interpretative; comparative; methods of holistic and musicological analysis. Scientific novelty. The main approaches in the interpretation of modern opera for young children, composer's and director's decisions are highlighted. The dramaturgical and stylistic features of the opera "#FOLON" are characterized in the context of Western European opera culture of the 21st century. Conclusions. The analysis of philosophical, musicological, and art-historical literature gives grounds to assert that the genre of opera for children is associated with the concepts of: “synthesis of arts”, “narrative”, “intermediality”, and “intertextuality”. The opera "#FOLON" by composer N. Campogrande is a full-fledged semiotic space that corresponds to the universal textual category of intertextuality, which, along with the specific characteristics of its sign system, conveys "figurative" information. Intermediality is based on the interaction of artistic codes of different types of art, as the formation of a holistic polyartistic space: a combination of art forms and texts that convey meaning through visual, verbal and auditory means and can be an ideal means of artistic and intellectual development and socialization for children, aimed at making elite opera art universally accessible.