Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet
New Perspectives on Sources and Practice
Published on 26. May 2026
Book
Hardback
314 pages
978-1-64825-139-9 (ISBN)
Description
Twelve original essays that explore the rich interplay of opera, ballet, and culture in eighteenth-century Europe and beyond and offer new insights into such important figures as Mozart and the castrato Farinelli.
Opera and theatrical dance were among the most important, elaborate, and influential products of European culture in the eighteenth century. Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet: New Perspectives on Sources and Practice, compiled and edited by Janet K. Page and Vanessa L. Rogers, gathers together essays by twelve leading scholars of the field.
The volume engages with the creation and production of opera and ballet across diverse national traditions within Europe (and, in one chapter, colonial Brazil), the social and artistic lives of singers, historical performance practices, and issues of scholarship and interpretation. The various chapters provide fresh perspectives on major figures of the era, including Goethe, Gluck, and Mozart, renowned singers such as the castrato Farinelli and the soprano Aloisia Lange, and the enormously influential choreographer Gasparo Angiolini.
Collectively, the essays illuminate the intricate interconnections that characterized eighteenth-century musical and theatrical culture and reveal new aspects of music and performance during this pivotal era.
Opera and theatrical dance were among the most important, elaborate, and influential products of European culture in the eighteenth century. Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet: New Perspectives on Sources and Practice, compiled and edited by Janet K. Page and Vanessa L. Rogers, gathers together essays by twelve leading scholars of the field.
The volume engages with the creation and production of opera and ballet across diverse national traditions within Europe (and, in one chapter, colonial Brazil), the social and artistic lives of singers, historical performance practices, and issues of scholarship and interpretation. The various chapters provide fresh perspectives on major figures of the era, including Goethe, Gluck, and Mozart, renowned singers such as the castrato Farinelli and the soprano Aloisia Lange, and the enormously influential choreographer Gasparo Angiolini.
Collectively, the essays illuminate the intricate interconnections that characterized eighteenth-century musical and theatrical culture and reveal new aspects of music and performance during this pivotal era.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Rochester
United States
Publishing group
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
46 b/w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-64825-139-9 (9781648251399)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
VANESSA ROGERS is Associate Professor of Music and Elizabeth G. Daughdrill Chair in Fine Arts at Rhodes College, VT and Principal Researcher for the website Ballad Operas Online: An Electronic Catalogue. JANET K PAGE is Professor of Musicology at the University of Memphis, TN and author of Convent Music and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Vienna. VANESSA ROGERS is Associate Professor of Music and Elizabeth G. Daughdrill Chair in Fine Arts at Rhodes College, VT and Principal Researcher for the website Ballad Operas Online: An Electronic Catalogue. JANET K PAGE is Professor of Musicology at the University of Memphis, TN and author of Convent Music and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Vienna.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Celebrating the Legacy of Bruce Alan Brown
Vanessa L. Rogers and Janet K. Page
Part I: Illuminating Artistic Practice
1. Ballet in Paris in the Late Eighteenth Century, as Discussed by a French Cellist and a Russian Nobleman
John A. Rice
2. Between Theoretical Aspiration and Artistic Practice: Angiolini in Vienna, 1774-76
Irene Brandenburg
3. Airy Emanations or Pindaric Flights? Singing in London with Farinelli (and Nicola Porpora)
Michael Burden
4. Reviving Eighteenth-Century Ballet-Pantomime Repertoire: In the Footsteps of Bruce A. Brown
Helena Kazarova
Part II: Text and Character
5. Prospero, Sarastro, Faust
Thomas Bauman
6. Connections between Die Zauberfloete, Die Sonnenjungfrau, and Das Sonnenfest der Braminen
Lisa de Alwis
7. Between Documentation and Image Construction: Gluck's Biography and Its Sources
Daniel Brandenburg
Part III: Sources, Documentation, and Research Issues
8. (Im)possible Love? The Galanteries of Farinelli
Anne Desler
9. New Documents on Aloisia and Joseph Lange
Michael Lorenz
10. The Genesis of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro
Dexter Edge
11. Nannerl's Rebus, or Is a Picture Worth 5,000 Words?
Neal Zaslaw
12. The Colonial Opera Dilemma: Research Ethics and Heritagization in a 1960s Controversy in Brazil
Rogerio Budasz
List of Contributors
Selected Bibliography of Publications by Bruce Alan Brown
Index
Tabula Gratulatoria
Introduction: Celebrating the Legacy of Bruce Alan Brown
Vanessa L. Rogers and Janet K. Page
Part I: Illuminating Artistic Practice
1. Ballet in Paris in the Late Eighteenth Century, as Discussed by a French Cellist and a Russian Nobleman
John A. Rice
2. Between Theoretical Aspiration and Artistic Practice: Angiolini in Vienna, 1774-76
Irene Brandenburg
3. Airy Emanations or Pindaric Flights? Singing in London with Farinelli (and Nicola Porpora)
Michael Burden
4. Reviving Eighteenth-Century Ballet-Pantomime Repertoire: In the Footsteps of Bruce A. Brown
Helena Kazarova
Part II: Text and Character
5. Prospero, Sarastro, Faust
Thomas Bauman
6. Connections between Die Zauberfloete, Die Sonnenjungfrau, and Das Sonnenfest der Braminen
Lisa de Alwis
7. Between Documentation and Image Construction: Gluck's Biography and Its Sources
Daniel Brandenburg
Part III: Sources, Documentation, and Research Issues
8. (Im)possible Love? The Galanteries of Farinelli
Anne Desler
9. New Documents on Aloisia and Joseph Lange
Michael Lorenz
10. The Genesis of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro
Dexter Edge
11. Nannerl's Rebus, or Is a Picture Worth 5,000 Words?
Neal Zaslaw
12. The Colonial Opera Dilemma: Research Ethics and Heritagization in a 1960s Controversy in Brazil
Rogerio Budasz
List of Contributors
Selected Bibliography of Publications by Bruce Alan Brown
Index
Tabula Gratulatoria