Antonio Salieri and Viennese Opera

648 Pages·1998·3.05 MB·English

by  John A. Rice

AND VIENNESE OPERA

AND VIENNESE OPERA
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS / CHICAGO AND LONDON
JOHN A. RICE is the author of W. A. Mozart: La clemenza di Tito and of many articles on
eighteenth-century music.
TITLE PAGE ILLUSTRATION: Costume design for Altamor in Axur re d'Ormus, executed by
F. A. Lohrmann for Wojciech Boguslawski's production in Polish, Warsaw, 1793. (Courtesy of
Warsaw University Library.)
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1998 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1998
Printed in the United States of America
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN: 0-226-71125-0 (cloth)
ISBN: 0-226-71126-9 (paper)
A publishing subvention from the American Musicological Society is gratefully acknowledged.
Music autography by Jurgen Selk, Music Graphics International.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rice, John A.
Antonio Salieri and Viennese Opera I John A. Rice.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-226-71125-0 (alk. paper).-ISBN 0-226-71126-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Salieri, Antonio, 1750-1825-Criticism and interpretation.
2. Opera-Austria-Vienna-18TH century. I. Title.
ML4l0.Sl6R53 1998
782.1' 092-dC21
(B]
CIP
MN
@ The paper used in this publication meets die minimum requirements of the
American National Standards Institute-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI z39.48-1992.
For Mariza de Andrade
BLANK PAGE
CONTENTS
List ofI llustrations I ix
Acknowledgments I xi
Abbreviations I xiii
A Note on the Terminology of Italian Operatic Poetry I xvii
Kreuzer, Gulden, and Ducats I xix
Introduction I 1
From Venice to Vienna I 9
1
2 Opera in Vienna, 1766-76: Theaters, Management, Personnel I 32
3 Goldonian Opera Buffa in Vienna before Salieri I 61
4 Constructing Le donne letterate I 111
5 Youthful Exploration and Experiment I i52
6 Three Goldonian Comedies I 182
7 Joseph II and the End of the Impresarial Decade I 232
s Italy, 1778-80 I 255
9 Joseph's Singspiel Troupe and Der Rauchfangkehrer I 281
lo Les Danai'des I 307
u Joseph's Italian Troupe and the Renewal of Viennese Opera Buffa I 330
12 Between Paris and Vienna: Tarare and Axur re d'Ormus I 385
Vlll CONTENTS
13 Da Ponte, Ferrarese, and Hofkapellmeister Salieri I 421
14 Mozart and Salieri I 459
15 Leopold II, Tomeoni, and the Triumph of Neapolitan Opera Buffa I 493
16 Withdrawal and Reemergence, q92-96 I 527
17 Salieri's Last Operas and the End of Viennese Italian Opera I 561
Appendix: A Chronological List of Salieri's Operas I 599
Bibliography I 603
Index of Salieri's Works I 619
General Index I 625
ILLUSTRATIONS
Color Plates (following page 412)
1 Costume designs for Arteneo and Elamir in Axur re d'Ormus
2 Costume design for Urson in Axur re d'Ormus
Black-and-White Figures
TITLE PAGE Costume design for Altamor in Axur re d'Ormus
1.1 Canaletto, The Bacino di S. Marco on Ascension Day I 16
1.2 Joseph II at the keyboard I 26
1.3 Joseph II at the keyboard, detail I 26
1.4 Salieri, silhouette published in 1786 I 30
1.5 Te Deum in the court chapel, April 1790, detail I 30
2.1 Bird's-eye view of Vienna, 1785 I 34
2.2 The Michaelerplatz with the Burgtheater, ca. 1785 I 36
2.3 Groundplan of the Burgtheater, i778 I 36
2.4 The Karntnertortheater, ca. 1772 I 36
2.5 Giovanni de Gamerra I 47
2.6 List of players in the two theater orchestras, 1773> with evaluations of their ability I 51
2.7 Contract signed by Costanza and Rosa Baglioni with the terms of a two-year
engagement in Vienna I 58
4.1 Pietro Longhi, The Geography Lesson I 115
4.2 Le donne letterate, text of the finale of act 1 I 128
5.1 Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamace, beginning of scene 4 I 159
5.2 The first of three pages of annotations inSalieri's hand in the autograph score of
Armida, 1771 I 165
5.3 Armida, beginning of act 3 in the autograph score I 110