Opera buffa in Vienna (1763-1782)

The research proposal builds on the FWF project The Italian Opera buffa on the Viennese Stage (1763-1773) (P21323), which is concerned with the importation and revision of Italian Opere buffe for Vienna. The scope of the project includes the reconstruction of the Viennese versions by means of a comprehensive philological investigation and the documentation of all located inserted numbers in a database. In the follow-up project, analysis of the recorded data should continue and advance through detailed investigation of individual aspects. Thus, the focus is, on the one hand, on case studies, but also on ongoing differentiated observations of approaches, which could refer back to different parameters of performance requirements. Detailed analyses should determine how a singer-specific way of adapting operas manifests itself, to what extent the performance context (normal opera performance vs. courtly festival opera) could have influenced the kind of revision and, above all, how much "adapter specific" differences in the approach can be determined. In particular, the revision practice of the two opera conductors Florian Gassmann and Antonio Salieri should be examined and compared with one another. A further emphasis of the project will be the extension of the research period until 1782, in order to include the period of the foundation of the Nationaltheater by Joseph II (1776), which was accompanied by the dismissal of the Italian opera ensemble, through the renewed appointment of another such troupe in 1783, which was generally considered the revival of opera buffa in Vienna. Thus, not only will a period neglected by scholarship in regard to Italian opera in Vienna be systematically investigated, a time in which buffa productions decreased but never entirely disappeared, but special attention should be paid to the historically interesting changes which occurred in musical institutions in Vienna around 1776.

The opera buffa in Vienna (17631782) was conceived as a follow-up research project to the one on The Italian opera buffa on the Viennese Stage (17631773) (P21323). The principal research goal was to provide a comprehensive historical overview of the production and reception of opera buffa in Vienna from its establishment back in 1763 until the reopening of the Italian season at the Burgtheater in 1783.The opere buffe performed in Vienna between 1763 and 1782 were of considerable historical significance. They show the development of the genre, reaching from the early dramma giocoso in the tradition of Goldoni and Galuppi to the new concepts of the 1770s, which were shaped by composers such as Anfossi and Paisiello. In this period, the opera buffa became the leading operatic genre in Vienna, accompanied by the decay of opera seria following Emperor Francis I. death back in 1765.Like the preceding research project, the follow-up one focused on the adaptation of imported operas for the privileged theatres in Vienna (Kärntnertortheater and Burgtheater) and on the identification of the inserted arias and ensembles. The database of the project (www.univie.ac.at/muwidb/operabuffa/) was expanded, covering the period to 1782 and including around 40 additional productions. The chronological expansion of the project allowed for a broadening of research issues, such as the role of Italian operas during the time of Josephs II. Theaterreform (when a disappearance of opera buffa is generally presumed), the discrepancies between Florian Leopold Gassmanns and Salieris reworking habits, the function of opera buffa as a courtly genre in the 1760s, and the dissemination of Viennese operas in Central Europe.The research project came with a particularly strong impact on the Viennese musical community, namely by supporting the performance of Gassmanns Gli Uccellatori (March 22, 2015) and Salieris La scuola de Gelosi (May 18, 2017) in cooperation with the Kammeroper. Thus, the research project can be considered an excellent example for the successful interaction between academic musicology and musical institutions. The success of both performances among the audience and the critics shed new light on the research project. It also generated an unusual degree of media attention for two formerly little-known Viennese opere buffe.