The italian Opera buffa on the Viennese stage (1763-1773)

Mozart`s masterpieces have helped direct the attention of music-historical research to Viennese opera buffa. But despite the original contributions by Mozart, along with Gassmann, Salieri, Soler and others, the buffa repertoire performed in this city starting in 1763 - the point at which this genre established itself there more permanently - consisted of ca. 70% imported works (by, among others, Galuppi, Piccinni, Guglielmi, Paisiello), most of which had been premiered in the important operatic centers of Italy, such as Rome, Venice, and Naples. As was customary in the 18th century, the imported scores had to be adapted to the exigencies of the Viennese system of production. In addition to shortening and cutting, it was common practice to compose and adapt numbers for insertion into these operas. These processes of adaptation stand at the center of the project, which focuses primarily on works performed under F. L. Gassmann`s directorship of Italian opera. Three aspects will receive particular attention: the system of production, with special emphasis on the singers, who were often responsible for the dissemination of the scores; the Viennese sources that document the complex processes of re-working; and finally, the mechanisms of cultural transfer.. The goal of the project is the reconstruction of a `Viennese editorial practice` of opera buffa, with specific attention to the relationship between the music-theatrical texts (libretti and scores) and a dynamic, intercultural system of production. The final aim is to try and understand what Viennese audiences heard and saw. A database to manage the information by cataloguing individual numbers and a book are planned.

The object of this research project consisted of comic operas whose premieres took place in Italian theatres (usually in Venice or Rome) and were imported to Vienna between 1763 and 1773, where they were performed in adapted versions. These so-called opere buffe consist for a large part of successful works such as settings of Carlo Goldonis texts by Baldassare Galuppi or Niccolò Piccinni, as well as the early comic works by Giovanni Paisiello. The Viennese adaptations were primarily made by the opera directors there, Florian Gassmann and later, Antonio Salieri.This projects essential source material consisted of manuscript full scores of the Viennese versions now held in the Music Department of the Austrian National Library, as well as libretti printed for performances in Vienna. The project goal was a precise examination of these versions, for which the alterations were analysed and placed within a broader context. From this we not only learned about the specific performance conditions on Viennese stages under Maria Theresias tenure, but we also were able to view them with respect to the entire performance histories of these operas, especially the singers who were involved. With this, a thus-far unexamined, yet very important chapter of Viennese theatrical history was researched and taken seriously not merely as a matter of local history, but also as a part of an internationally functioning operatic system. The findings allowed for a fundamental re-thinking of the procedure of operatic adaptation. This aspect, as well as further results of the project, such as individual case studies, were discussed in several articles and papers.A project database (www.univie.ac.at/muwidb/operabuffa/), which contains all music numbers that were newly composed or borrowed from other operas for the Viennese performances, has been put together. There one can also find further information pertaining to the operas performed in Vienna, the composers, librettists, and singers involved, as well as the consulted sources on the origins of each piece.