The Italian Opera Singers in Mozart's Vienna

Download or read book The Italian Opera Singers in Mozart's Vienna written by Dorothea Link and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2022-11-22 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dorothea Link examines singers’ voices and casting practices in late eighteenth-century Italian opera as exemplified in Vienna’s court opera from 1783 to 1791. The investigation into the singers’ voices proceeds on two levels: understanding the performers in terms of the vocal-dramatic categories employed in opera at the time; and creating vocal profiles for the principal singers from the music composed expressly for them. In addition, Link contextualizes the singers within the company in order to expose the court opera's casting practices. Authoritative and insightful, The Italian Opera Singers in Mozart's Vienna offers a singular look at a musical milieu and a key to addressing the performance-practice problem of how to cast the Mozart roles today.