john s.
jenkins
1. JS Jenkins: The voice of
the castrato, in The Lancet
vol.351 (1998), pp.187780.
Mozart and the castrati
D
uring the 18th century Italian vocal music was dominated by
the voices of castrati and from a very early age Mozart encountered
these extraordinary singers. Throughout his career he composed
music, mostly operatic but also liturgical and concert arias, to encompass
their remarkable characteristics, and in his many letters he expressed his
personal thoughts on the nature of these strange creatures.
The stimulus to preserve the pre-pubertal male voice into adult life by
castration had, in the first place, come from the Church of Rome in the late
16th century.1 The first official provision of four castrati in the choir of the
Sistine chapel was in 1589 in a papal Bull issued by Pope Sixtus V. Following
this the practice spread rapidly throughout the churches, so that by 1640
castrati were members of all the main choirs of Italy. They continued to
take their place in the Sistine chapel for over three centuries.
But the main reason for the rise in popularity of the castrato voice was
the coming of opera to the Italian musical scene early in the 17th century.
The development of opera in the form of opera seria, with its stylised plots
often centred round ancient legends and gods, lent itself especially to the
unreal sound of the castrato voice even in roles of heroic male characters.
It was usual, therefore, for the cast in an opera seria to include one or more
castrati. The rise and fall of the castrato closely paralleled the popularity of
opera seria, reaching its peak in the middle of the 18th century.
After castration boys who showed vocal aptitude were apprenticed to a
singing master or entered a conservatorio to embark upon a long period of
instruction in vocal technique and, particularly, breath control. This intensive
training, together with the effect of castration on the vocal cords and its
production of a greatly increased chest capacity, resulted in the great vocal
range, power and agility for which the castrati were famous. The format of
opera seria with its emphasis on the da capo aria enabled them to provide the
extended ornamentation so much enjoyed by audiences, although this was
often to the detriment of real characterisation and dramatic expression.
Those with the finest voices became operatic idols. Such was their
enthusiasm for the castrato that the audiences cry was Evviva il costello!
(Long live the knife!). By the first half of the 18th century opera had
spread from the great centres of Naples, Venice and Rome to many
European cities, including London, where the top visiting castrati were
regarded as international stars able to command enormous fees. Amongst
other musicians, however, castrati were not always regarded favourably.
the musical times Winter 2010 55
56 Mozart and the castrati
2. Charles Burney: A general
history of music (17761789),
2 vols, edited by Frank
Mercer (New York, 1935),
vol.2, p.867.
3. Ian Woodfield: New light
on the Mozarts London
visit, in Music & Letters
vol.76 (1995), pp.187208.
Their physical features, increased height and feminine appearance were
sometimes the subject of mockery, and the behaviour of some led to charges
of arrogance, petulance and poor acting. There was also envy over the much
larger fees that they could command compared with normal singers.
Giovanni Manzuoli (172572)
Mozart and his family arrived in London in April 1764 and in the following
autumn they witnessed the opening of the Italian opera season at the Kings
Theatre in the Haymarket with the appearance of Giovanni Manzuoli as primo
uomo in the pasticcio opera Ezio. Manzuoli, born in Florence, was the most
eminent of the current castrati, and according to Leopold Mozart he was paid
1500 for coming to London as well as receiving the very large sum of 1000
guineas for a single benefit performance. These values should be multiplied
by at least 150 in present terms. Charles Burney writes of his performance:
Manzuolis voice was the most powerful and voluminous soprano that had
been heard on our stage since the time of Farinelli; and his manner of singing
was grand and full of taste and dignity.2 He performed in all the Italian operas
of the London season to great acclaim, whatever the merits of the opera, and
also performed at private concerts for the aristocracy. On 12 March 1765 Lady
Margaret Clive, wife of Lord Clive of India, refers, in a letter, to a concert,
which she planned to hold the next day at her house in Berkeley Square, at
which Manzuoli would sing and the little Mozarts, the boy aged 8 and the girl
12 will also play most completely well.3
It was during this year in London that Manzuoli became so entranced by
the young Wolfgang that he took the trouble to give the boy singing lessons.
This instruction from a master in vocal technique was to prove invaluable
to Mozart in his first attempts at opera composition only two years later.
The fruits of the tuition were demonstrated by the Honourable Daines
Barrington, an eminent lawyer and amateur musician who, having attended
public concerts at which Wolfgang had performed, was determined to put
the abilities of this apparent prodigy to proper tests, which he then carried
out at Mozarts house in London. In his long, detailed report, which he
subsequently published, he says
Happening to know that the little Mozart was much taken notice of by Manzoli [sic], the
famous singer, who came over to England in 1764, I said to the boy that I should be glad
to hear an extemporary Love Song such as his friend Manzoli might choose in an opera.
The boy on this (who continued who continued to sit at his harpsichord) looked back with
much archness, and immediately began five or six lines of a jargon recitative proper to
introduce a love song [...]. Finding that he was in humour and, as it were inspired, I then
desired him to compose a Song of Rage, such as might be proper for the opera stage. The
boy again looked back with much archness and began five or six lines of a jargon recitative
proper to precede a Song of Anger. This lasted also about the same time with the Song

4. Daines Barrington: An
account of a remarkable
young man, in Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal
Society vol.60 (1771)
pp.5464.
5. Emily Anderson, ed.:
The letters of Mozart and
his family (third edition,
London, 1985), pp.130131.
of Love; and in the middle of it he had worked himself up to such a pitch that he beat his
harpsichord like a person possessed, rising sometimes in his chair.4
At the end of the London opera season Manzuoli returned to Florence. In
April 1770 he was reunited with the Mozarts, father and son, during their first
visit to Italy. The purpose of this visit was for Wolfgang to obtain firsthand
experience of Italian music, particularly opera, of which they saw a great
deal. During their extensive travels in the country they reached Bologna,
where they paid their respects to the most famous castrato of all, Carlo
Broschi, known as Farinelli (170582), by visiting him in his retirement at
his villa outside the city. In Milan the young Mozart composed three arias
(K.78, 79, 88), all with a text from Metastasios Artaserse, for a concert
held on 12 March 1770 by the influential diplomat Count Karl Firmian. As
a result of the very favourable response from the noblemen present who
were responsible for the Milan opera, he was awarded a contract to compose
his first opera seria, Mitridate, re di Ponto, to be performed in December
1770. Mozart writes Manzuoli is negotiating with the Milanese to sing in
my opera. With that in view he sang four or five arias to me in Florence
including some which I had to compose in Milan so that the Milanese who
had heard none of my dramatic music should see that I am capable of writing
an opera. Manzuoli is demanding a thousand ducats.5 In fact, the singers
commissioned to perform in Mitridate did not include Manzuoli after all.
For his first opera seria the Milan authority gave Mozart no less than three
castrati out of a cast of seven for whom he had to compose the music. They
were Pietro Benedetti (soprano), also known as Sartorini, in the role of
Sifare son of Mitridate, Giuseppe Cicognani (alto), as Farnace, the second
son, and Pietro Muschietti (soprano), as Governor of Nymphaeum. Of
these Benedetti was already known to him from a concert he had attended in
Rome, and earlier in the year, at Mantua, he had heard Cicognani in Hasses
opera La clemenza di Tito. According to Mozart his voice was delightful,
with a beautiful cantabile. Two months later, in Bologna, Mozart took part
in a concert with Cicognani.
By 1770, under the reforms of Gluck and others, opera seria was already
moving away from the standard da capo aria of the Baroque era to more
complex styles and Mozart was alert to these new developments. For the
three acts of Mitridate he composed nine castrato arias four for Sifare,
four for Farnace and one for Arbace. The music fully demonstrates their
considerable abilities, involving much coloratura, but, constrained by the
libretto and the conventions of opera seria, the young Mozart was not yet able
to bring to Mitridate the degree of dramatic expression which characterised
his later works. Nevertheless, his achievement in the genre is astonishing
when, at the age of 14, the beauty of the music and his composition is
measured against those of his experienced contemporaries.
the musical times Winter 2010 57
58 Mozart and the castrati

Mitridate, re di Ponto was so well received that the following year, after his
return to Salzburg, he was commissioned to write another work for Milan, to
celebrate the marriage of Empress Maria Theresas 17-year-old son Archduke
Ferdinand to Princess Maria Beatrice dEste of Modena. This opera in two parts,
or festa teatrale as it was designated, was Ascanio in Alba, a pastoral allegory on
Empress Maria Theresa as Venus and the young couple as Ascanio and Sylvia.
This time, Manzuoli was cast in the role of Ascanio. As the shepherd Fauno,
there was a second castrato, Adamo Solzi, already known to the Hapsburg
court by his performance in Florian Gassmans Ezio, which marked Emperor
Josephs visit to Rome in 1770. However, the main opera for the celebrations
was Johann Adolf Hasses Ruggiero, in which Manzuoli was also to take part.
Mozart always composed specifically for a particular voice and would not
compose the arias before meeting the singers in person so as to fit the suit
to the figure , as Leopold said. In the case of Manzuoli he was of course
already very familiar with his voice, but it is noticeable that the music he
composed for this castrato, who was then 46 years old and probably past
his prime, does not involve a high tessitura, whereas for Solzi provision
was made for much greater range and agility. His two arias, Se il labbro pi
non dice and the very long Dal tuo gentil sembiante, with its repeated
sequences of coloratura, demonstrate the talent of the younger castrato.
Ascanio in Alba was performed on 17 October 1771, the day following
Hasse s Ruggiero, and although the form of a festa teatrale gave little scope
for characterisation, according to Leopold it completely overwhelmed the
work of the old master: Im sorry but Wolfgangs serenata has so beaten
Hasse s opera that I cannot describe it.
But Mozarts views on Manzuolis character after his performances in the
two operas were now shown to be very different from previous encounters.
Writing to his sister from Milan on 24 November 1771 he says
Manzuoli, who up to the present has been generally looked upon as the most sensible of
the castrati, has in his old age given the world a sample of his stupidity and conceit. He
was engaged for the opera at a salary of five hundred cigliati but as the contract did not
mention my serenata he demanded another five hundred for that, that is, one thousand
cigliati in all. The court only gave him seven hundred and a fine snuff-box (quite enough,
I think.) But he like a true castrato returned both the seven hundred cigliati and the snuff-
box and went off without anything.6

This appears to be Manzuolis last stage appearance and he died in Florence

in 1782.

Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci (173690)

Born in Sienna, Tenducci arrived in London in 1758 and he continued to live
6. ibid., p.207. there for much of his life. His debut in Italian opera was at the Kings Theatre
 in Il Ciro reconosciuto by Giacchino Cocchi and was well received, but in 1761
he achieved even greater acclaim for his appearance in Thomas Arnes most
successful opera, Artaxerxes, in the role of the young hero Arbaces.
On 26 January 1765 the much anticipated opera Adriano in Siria by Johann
Christian Bach, music master to the Queen, opened at the Kings Theatre.
The primo uomo was Manzuoli and the secondo uomo was Tenducci in the
title role. During his stay in London Mozart attended the performance and
he subsequently became very friendly with Tenducci who, in addition to the
seasons performances at the Kings Theatre, sang regularly at Ranelagh
Pleasure Gardens in a series of song arrangements written for him by Bach.
In 1765 Tenducci visited Dublin where he repeated his success with
Artaxerxes and in the following year whilst in Ireland he, surprisingly, eloped
with a young singer, Dora Maunsell, and married her in Cork. The girls
parents were very antagonistic and succeeded in getting the bridegroom
imprisoned for the seduction of their daughter, and he was only finally set
at liberty when he became seriously ill. The Maunsell family eventually
relented and he returned with his wife to London, where he continued to
perform in opera, at the Bach-Abel concerts and at Ranelagh. JC Bach
introduced Tenducci to a friend of his, the artist Thomas Gainsborough,
who painted the portrait of him which is now in the Barbour Institute of
Fine Art, Birmingham. The nature of his voice is enthusiastically described
by Lydia Melford in Tobias Smolletts novel Humphrey Clinker when she
says, after a visit to Ranelagh, There I heard the famous Tenducci, a thing
from Italy it looks for all the world like a man, though they say it is not.
The voice to be sure is neither mans nor womans but it is more melodious
than either; and it warbled so divinely that while I listened I really thought
myself in paradise .7
In August 1778 Bach arrived in Paris to prepare his new opera Amadis de
Gaule in the company of Tenducci, who had fled from England to escape his
debts, and it was here that the two friends were reunited with Mozart, who
had been in the city for five months looking for employment. Mozart wrote
to his father in Salzburg:
Mr Bach from London has been here for the last fortnight [...] You can easily imagine his
delight and mine at meeting again [...]. Tenducci is here too. He is Bachs bosom friend.
He was also delighted to see me again. I must make haste for I am composing a scena for
Tenducci which is to be performed on Sunday; it is for pianoforte, oboe, horn and bassoon.
7. Tobias Smollet:
Humphrey Clinker (1771; The manuscript is now lost but Charles Burney gives further information in
Harmondsworth, 1988), a letter quoted by Daines Barrington:
p.123.
8. Otto Erich Deutsch: Mozart being at Paris, in 1778, composed for Tenducci a scena in 14 parts, chiefly obligati;
Mozart: a documentary viz. two violins, two tenors, one chromatic horn, one oboe, two clarinets, a pianoforte,
biography (third edition, a soprano voice part, with two horns and a base di rinforza. It is a very elaborate and
London, 1991), p.187. masterly composition, discovering a great practice and facility of writing in many parts.8

the musical times Winter 2010 59

60 Mozart and the castrati

Tenducci returned to London, and his last opera performance was

in Glucks Orfeo at the Kings Theatre in 1785. It was not a success and
at the age of 50 his voice was now spent. He gave a final concert for the
commemoration of his friend Bach and returned to Italy, dying in Genoa
on 25 January 1790.

Venanzio Rauzzini (17461810)

Following his successes in Milan, Mozart received yet another contract
to compose an opera seria, Lucio Silla, for the festival at the end of 1772.
The singers assigned to the opera included the renowned soprano Anna
de Amicis-Buonsolazzi in the prima donna role of Giunia and the young
castrato Venanzio Rauzzini as her lover Cecilio. Mozart was already familiar
with the voice of de Amicis during a visit to Naples the previous year but
Rauzzini was unknown to him.
Veneziano Rauzzini was born at Camero in the Italian Marches and after
operatic roles in Rome he entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria in
Munich in 1767. At this time Charles Burney described him as a charming
singer, a pleasing figure and a good actor. As usual Mozart would not
compose his arias until he was present but when he finally arrived, Leopold
Mozart says that at rehearsal he sang his first aria, Il tenero momento, like
an angel. Charles Burney subsequently wrote of him: the beautiful and
animated young man had a voice which was sweet, flexible and extensive,
being in compass more than two octaves. Mozart, accordingly, wrote for
him exploiting this quality. In his aria Ah se a morir mi chiama Rauzzini
soared from A to Ab almost two octaves higher. For his prima donna, de
Amicis, Mozart, at her own insistence, also wrote very demanding music to
show off her fine technique, but the relationship between the two soloists
became soured when at the first performance on 26 December Rauzzini was
very warmly applauded by the Archduchess of Milan, Maria Beatrice, at the
expense of de Amicis. According to Leopold Mozart, writing to his wife on 2
January 1773 about the success of the opera, Rauzzini had previously told the
Archduchess that he was so nervous about his coming performance that he
might not be able to sing unless the court encouraged him. The very jealous
de Amicis was not placated until the next day when she was given a special
audience with the Archduchess in Leopolds view a typical castratos
trick.
Following Lucio Silla, Mozart, while still in Milan, composed for Rauzzini
the celebrated motet Exsultate jubilate (K.165), which was sung at the
Theatine Church on 17 January 1773. Although a sacred work, it is operatic
in style. Scored for solo soprano and orchestral accompaniment, it consists
of two arias connected by a recitative and ends with the famous Alleluia.
 In 1774 Rauzzini left Italy for London to take up the position of primo uomo
at the Kings Theatre, where he also composed for the company. After 1777 he
became increasingly in demand as a singing teacher, attracting such illustrious
pupils as Nancy Storace, Mozarts first Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and
her lover, the tenor John Braham. Rauzzini finally moved to Bath where, in
charge of the concerts, he was very influential in the vibrant musical life of
the city. He died there on 8 April 1810 and was buried in Bath Abbey, where
there is a memorial to him erected by Nancy Storace and John Braham.

Tommaso Consoli (1753-1810)

On 13 March 1773 Mozart returned to Salzburg and to a new Archbishop,
Hieronymous Colloredo. In the absence of further work in Italy, father
and son spent the summer in Vienna with the hope that after the successes
in Milan a substantive position would become available. This did not
materialise and at the end of September they returned to Salzburg. Two
months later, Wolfgang received a commission from Count Joseph von
Seeau, Superintendent of Theatrical the Entertainments in Munich, to
compose an opera buffa entitled La finta giardiniera for the Munich festival.
The exact cast of singers provided is uncertain but it included the castrato
Tommaso Consoli.
Born in Rome, Consoli came to Munich in 1773, but there is little
information about his early career. It was unusual for a castrato to be given
a role in an opera buffa since these exotic singers were more suited to the
legendary world of opera seria than the down to earth nature of comic
opera, but his presence may result from the fact that La finta giardiniera has
the most confused libretto of all, with which Mozart was involved. Most
of the characters, including that of the title role and her lover Belfiore, are
recognisable as those from a typical opera buffa, whereas the second pair of
lovers, Ramiro and Arminda, are cast in a serious mode. Accordingly, the
castrato Consoli was given the part of Ramiro and the well-known soprano
Rosa Manservisi was cast as Arminda. In this respect La finta giardiniera is
a combination of buffa and seria, and within this very confused scenario
Mozart was attempting to depart from the standard pattern of comic opera
and introduce darker elements of vengeance and betrayal. The music
composed for Consoli, in particular the beautiful aria Dolce damor
compagna and the powerful Va pure ad altri in braccio, brings to the
role of Ramiro feelings of passion not given to the comic nature of the
other characters. The opera is flawed by its ridiculous libretto but the very
fine music which Mozart composed for this work demonstrates that he was
already fluent in both operatic genres and presages the masterpieces of Le
nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.

the musical times Winter 2010 61

62 Mozart and the castrati

Mozart returned home to Salzburg in March 1775 and awaiting him was
another commission for an opera from no less than his own Archbishop
Colloredo. This time, it was to be part of the festivities to welcome
Archduke Maximillian, Empress Maria Theresas youngest son, to Salzburg
in April 1775. The work chosen was the opera seria Il re pastore, with a well-
known libretto by Metastasio, and it had already been set to music at least 14
times by many eminent composers before Mozart. The plot was typical of
opera seria, involving ancient heroes, with Alexander the Great installing a
humble shepherd, Aminta, on the throne of Sidon. For the Mozart version
the cast was drawn from the Salzburg court singers but their identity is
unknown apart from Tommaso Consoli: he was brought from Munich for
the primo uomo role of Aminta, since at that time there were no castratos
available in Salzburg. The numerous previous composers for Il re pastore
had generally treated the work as a typical static opera seria, but even within
this stylised format Mozart attempted to display real emotions, notably in
the exchanges between Aminta and his lover the shepherdess Elisa. He was
helped by the fact that Consoli not only had a powerful voice for bravura
arias but, in contrast to many castrati, he had a reputation as a fine actor.
The performance in Salzburg at the Archbishops palace took place on 23
April 1775 and Mozart himself thought sufficiently well of his music for
Consoli to use Amintas first aria, Aer tranquillo e di sereni, for Aloisia
Weber, his future sister-in-law, to sing in concert at Mannheim in February
1778. Amintas final aria is the beautiful LAmero, saro costante, richly
orchestrated and now a favourite soprano concert aria.
During 177677 Pietro Rosas touring opera company came to Salzburg
and Mozart was asked to compose arias for their singers, one of whom was the
alto castrato Francesco Fortini from the court of Bavaria. In September 1777
Mozart wrote for him the concert aria Ombra felice... Io ti lascio (K.255)
to a text from the opera Arsace by Michele Mortellari. This aria begins with
an orchestral recitative followed by a rondo with much dramatic feeling
of farewell and abandonment. Mozart regarded this aria so well that, years
later, in April 1783, he requested his father to send him a copy for his use in
Vienna.
In late 1777 Consoli left Munich and returned to Italy, where for the next
two decades he continued as an operatic singer in many of the main cities
before finally becoming resident in Rome, his birthplace, in 1801. He was
admitted as chorister to the Sistine chapel and died in Rome in 1810.

Francesco Ceccarelli (17521814)

On 4 September 1776 Mozart wrote to his mentor, the renowned music
scholar Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, in Bologna, bemoaning the state

9. Anderson: Letters, p.266.
10. ibid., p.342.
11. ibid., p.526.
of music in Salzburg under the rule of Archbishop Colloredo As for the
theatre we are in a bad way for lack of singers. We have no castrati, and we
shall never have them, because they insist on being handsomely paid; and
generosity is not one of our faults.9
But in October of the following year, whilst Wolfgang and his mother
were in Mannheim, his sister Nannerl wrote to them from Salzburg:
a castrato who happened to be passing through sang yesterday at Court. Papa was there
and heard him but he did not like his singing particularly for he has a rather nasal voice
and is a long-legged fellow with a long face and a low forehead. All the same, he sings far
better than Madame Duschek. As the Archbishop is of the same opinion perhaps he will
take him into his service.10
Late in 1777 the Archbishop did appoint the castrato, in the person of
Francesco Ceccarelli, to the Court Chapel.
Ceccarelli was born in Foligno but little is known of his early career.
Before his appointment in Salzburg he was singing in the theatres of
Perugia in 1770 and Venice in 1775. In spite of Leopold Mozarts initially
unfavourable opinion, his views quickly changed and over the next ten years
he developed a close relationship with Ceccarelli. Frequent references to him
in the Mozart family letters provide an insight not only into their musical
associations but also views on castrati in general. Soon after Ceccarellis
appearance in Salzburg Leopold informed his son in Mannheim that the
castrato was a good sight reader, and that he had sung in a performance of
Wolfgangs Mass in Bb major (K.275) excellently.
Ceccarelli soon became very friendly with Leopold who, on 6 April 1778,
writes from Salzburg to Wolfgang, now in Paris with his mother: The
castrato, who comes to see us every day, sends you his greetings. He sings
for us, while Nannerl accompanies him like a first-rate Kapellmeister. It
appears that Leopold, a noted violin teacher, gave Ceccarelli violin lessons
because a week later he writes:
He comes to our house every evening unless there happens to be a big concert and always
brings with him an aria and a motet. I play the violin and Nannerl accompanies and plays
the solo passages written for violas or wind instruments. Then we play a clavier concerto
or perhaps a violin trio, Ceccarelli playing the second violin; and indeed we sometimes get
a good laugh for it was in Salzburg that he began to learn the violin and he has only been
playing it for six months. His time is up at the end of April. If he returns in the autumn or
if he now stays on for good the Archbishop is to give him 800 gulden a year for six years.
He has agreed to stay for this salary but only for two years, and provided the Archbishop
will pay his travelling expenses as well. He is now waiting for a reply. If he returns to
Salzburg he will be back on November 1st. He is going to leave all his arias with us, only
taking away a few. He much regrets that he has not met the two of you and is sorry that
he did not make our acquaintance immediately after his arrival for apart from us he does
not associate with anyone.11
Ceccarelli did obtain the contract to return to Salzburg on 1 November and
Leopold describes his friendship most enthusiastically: I have never come
the musical times Winter 2010 63
64 Mozart and the castrati

across such a good and sincere Italian, not to mention a castrato, as he is.
The whole town are delighted that he is returning.
Mozart, still in Paris suffering from the recent death of his mother there
and never having met Ceccarelli, had his reservations. Writing to his friend
Abb Bullinger in Salzburg, he rails against the state of music in the city,
the lack of a decent orchestra, and no Kapellmeister Salzburg is no place
for my talent! He then waxes sarcastically about the Court advertising for a
good female singer when they now have a castrato. He continues:
You know what sort of animal he is? He can sing high treble and thus take a womans part
to perfection. Let Ceccarelli be sometimes man and sometimes woman [...] we could get
Metastasio to come over from Vienna, or at least make him an offer, to write a few dozen
opera texts in which the primo uomo and the prima donna would never meet. In this way
the castrato could play the parts of both the lover and his mistress and the story would be
even more interesting.12

After his long absence Mozart returned to Salzburg in January 1779 and
finally met Ceccarelli. That year he revised the motet Exsultate, Jubilate,
originally written for Rauzzini six years previously in Milan, for Ceccarelli
to sing at the Church of the Holy Trinity. The motet was transposed up a
whole tone to G Major to accommodate the organ in the church and the text
was altered in the first aria and the recitative. There is then little mention of
Ceccarelli during the next 18 months that Mozart was in Salzburg before he
left for Munich in November 1780 to compose his opera Idomeneo.
In March 1781 Archbishop Colloredo, on a visit to his old father, Prince
Rudolph Joseph, summoned Mozart together with other musical members
of the household, including Ceccarelli and the violinist Antonio Brunetti,
to Vienna, where they were expected to take part in a series of concerts.
Mozart was given a room in the Archbishops place of residence probably
to keep him under close observation, whereas the other musicians were
accommodated elsewhere. It is clear that Mozart disliked the presence of
the Salzburg musicians, especially that of the coarse, brash Brunetti, and
neither did he share his fathers enthusiasm for Ceccarelli. However, he
composed three new works for the concert given at the house of Archbishop
Colloredos father on 8 April: a rondo for violin and orchestra for Brunetti
(K.373), a sonata with violin accompaniment (K.379) for himself, and
a recitative and aria, A questo seno deh vieni (K.374), for Ceccarelli. In
this concert aria the text was by Giovanni de Gamerra, the librettist of
Mozarts Lucio Silla, and the music demonstrated the sensuous virtuosity of
the castrato so well that the rapturous audience demanded an encore from
Ceccarelli. In spite of its reception Mozart was furious because he received
no remuneration from the Archbishop and he had been forced to forego an
invitation to another concert given by his aristocratic patron the Countess
12. ibid., p.595. Thun-Hohenstein at which the Emperor was present, so that an important
 contact was lost. The Archbishop then gave orders for his musicians to
return to Salzburg. Mozart, however, stayed on in Vienna. His fury finally
erupted, resulting in his resignation from the Archbishops service, and on
the 8 June he was famously kicked out of the house by the chamberlain
Count Arco, never to return to Salzburg.
During November he received a letter from his father saying that Ceccarelli
was revisiting Vienna and would Wolfgang give him accommodation.
Mozart flatly refused:
In regard to Ceccarelli it is quite impossible even for a single night; for I have only one room
which is not large and is so crammed already with my wardrobe, table and clavier and I
really do not know where I could put another bed and as for sleeping in one bed that I shall
only do with my future wife. I will look about for as cheap a lodging as possible.13
Ceccarelli arrived but Mozart was cool: No doubt Ceccarelli will want to
give a concert with me. But he wont succeed for I dont care about going
shares with people. All that I can do, as I intend to give a concert in Lent, is
to let him sing at it and then to play for him gratis at his own.
Mozart did not collaborate with Ceccarelli again until 1790, when on
the 15 October he gave a benefit concert in Frankfurt at which Ceccarelli
sang an aria, probably A questo seno deh vieni, written for him nine
years previously for the hated concert in Vienna. In the intervening years
Ceccarelli had continued to sing in Salzburg, including the opera Andromeda
and Perseo by the court composer Michael Haydn in 1787, following which he
left to perform in Naples, Venice and, finally, Dresden, where he remained
until his death in 1814. Ceccarellis voice was such that Leopold rated him
as excellent and even Wolfgang said that Salzburg would not get a better
castrato for the money that the Archbishop was prepared to pay.

Vincenzo dal Prato (1756-1828)

In the summer of 1780 Mozart was requested by the new Elector of Bavaria,
Karl Theodor, to compose an opera for the 1781 Munich festival. Mozart was
especially pleased because the Elector had brought with him the renowned
musicians from Mannheim, many of whom he knew. The work chosen
for him was the opera seria Idomeneo, re di Creta, now generally regarded
as Mozarts first operatic masterpiece. The libretto was by Giambattista
Varesco, Archbishop Colloredos chaplain in Salzburg who had previously
written the libretto of Il re pastore. The cast for the opera included the tenor
Anton Raaff in the title role, and Dorothea and Lisel Wendling as Ilia
and Elettra respectively, with whom Mozart was well acquainted from his
visit to Mannheim in 1777. The role of Idamante was given to the castrato,
Vincenzo dal Prato, who was unknown to him.
13. ibid., p.778. Born in Imola, dal Prato began his singing career at the age of 16 in Fano

the musical times Winter 2010 65

66 Mozart and the castrati

in 1772. By 1779 he was invited to sing in Stuttgart at a concert in honour

of the Crown Prince of Russia, and it was here that dal Prato caught the
attention of the Elector of Bavaria, who recruited him for Munich.
Much is known about the creation of Idomeneo from Mozarts frequent
correspondence with his father, in Salzburg, who acted as critic and go-
between for the composer and his librettist. It is clear from these letters that
he had considerable problems with Raaff and with dal Prato in particular.
Raaff, now 66 years old, at a time when his voice could be expected to be
finished, insisted on changes to some of the arias provided by the librettist
and in the music. Mozart, who was very respectful of his age, did his best
to accommodate him by writing less exacting music for the role: Raaff is a
worthy and thoroughly decent fellow.
But Mozart was exasperated with dal Prato from his first acquaintance. He
says To my molto amato castrato dal Prato I shall have to teach the whole
opera. He has no notion how to sing a cadenza effectively, and his voice is
so uneven! He is only engaged for a year and at the end of that time, next
September, Count Seeau will get somebody else. Ceccarelli might then have
a chance serieusement. He goes on The day before yesterday dal Prato
sang at the concert most disgracefully. I bet you that fellow will never get
through the rehearsals, still less the opera. Why, the rascal is rotten to the
core.14 Explaining to his father why he consented to shorten two scenes,
Mozart says Raaff and dal Prato spoil the recitative by singing it without
any spirit or fire and so monotonously. They are the most wretched actors
that ever walked on a stage.
In spite of Mozarts misgivings about his two male singers, the rehearsals
were very well received by the Elector, who pronounced the music to be
magnificent. Referring to the great quartet Andr ramingo e solo in act 3,
Mozart says We repeated it six times and now it goes well. The stumbling
block was dal Prato; the fellow is utterly useless. His voice would not be so
bad if he did not produce it in his throat and larynx. But he has no intonation,
no method, no feeling, but sings like the boys who come to be tested in the
hope of getting a place in the chapel choir.15 It is noticeable that the music
written for dal Prato did not contain the decoration that Mozart wrote for
the castrati in his earlier operas, possibly because of the singers limitations,
but this was actually in keeping with the increased dramatic effect that the
composer strove for in this opera, with the result that with Idomeneo he
lifted opera seria to emotional heights never previously associated with this
genre. In 1786 he rewrote the role of Idamante for a tenor in an amateur
performance of the opera in Vienna and this is the usually preferred form
for modern performances.
14. ibid., p.664. In spite of Mozarts fulminations against his molto amato castrato, dal
15. ibid., p.701. Prato was well enough received by the Munich court for his employment to
continue until 1805, and after his retirement he was sufficiently well regarded
to be provided with a pension by the Elector until his death in 1828.
It was not until 1791, in the last year of his life, that Mozart wrote again
for the castrato voice.

Domenico Bedini (c.1745after 1795)

Leopold II succeeded to the Hapsburg throne in 1790 and was crowned
King of Bohemia in 1791. As part of the coronation celebrations in Prague
a performance of the opera seria, La clemenza di Tito, was chosen by the
impresario for opera, Domenico Guardasoni. This choice was made
for political reasons so that Leopold could be identified with the wise
benevolent ruler, Titus. The libretto of the opera had originally been
written by Metastasio in 1734 and had been set to music by many eminent
composers including Gluck. For the present version the librettist selected
was Caterino Mazzol, the Dresden court poet, who adapted Metastasios
work, shortening it and reducing it to two acts.
There has been much discussion over the years as to why Mozart should
have written for a now outdated genre, opera seria, when, at the end of the
18th century, it was in the process of decline. But it is clear that Leopold
II, who had previously been Grand Duke of Tuscany since 1765, living in
Florence, had acquired the Italian taste for opera seria, unlike his predecessor,
Joseph, in Vienna, whose interests were predominantly in comic opera. It is
also likely that Mozart wished to accommodate the preferences of the new
Emperor with a view to obtaining further employment. The contract for this
coronation opera stipulated that the cast should include a first-class castrato
as primo uomo. The one selected was Domenico Bedini as Sesto. The role
of Vitellia was given to the famous soprano Maria Marchetti Fantozzi and
Titus was sung by the tenor Antonio Baglioni. Of the three, only Baglioni
was known to Mozart, since he had previously written for him the role of
Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.
Bedini was born about 1745, probably at Fossombrone in the Italian
Marches. His operatic career began in 1762 at nearby Pesaro and thence he
performed in opera seria in many of the great Italian opera houses, including
Venice, Rome, Naples and Florence, for the next 30 years. During 178086
he sang in six operas in Florence where he would have become known to
Grand Duke Leopold, and in 1785 he sang there as primo uomo together with
Marchetti as prima donna in the opera LOlimpiade by Giovanni Borghi.
It was fortunate for Mozart that the castrato, the prima donna and the
tenor were very experienced, since the time allotted to compose La clemenza
di Tito was very short, with limited opportunity for rehearsals. It appears
that the contract was accepted by him in mid-July 1791, with the premiere

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68 Mozart and the castrati

to be on 6 September, the date of the coronation. Mozarts fine music for his
castrato is well shown by Sestos great virtuoso aria in act 1, Parto, ma tu,
ben mio, accompanied by a magnificent obligato part for clarinet written
for his friend Anton Stadler, for whom, only a few weeks later, he wrote his
last instrumental work, the Clarinet Concerto (K.622).
In spite of Mozarts efforts La clemenza di Tito was not well received
by the first-night audience. Their lead was taken by Leopolds wife, the
Empress Maria Luisa, who was bored and, reputedly, referred to it as
Porcheria tedesca German swinishness. Whether or not the comment
was really made it seems that the Italianate Empress was already prejudiced
against a German composer for the coronation celebrations. However,
subsequent audiences were more appreciative. The last performance was
on 30 September, by which time Mozart had left Prague for Vienna to attend
the premiere of Die Zauberflte on the same date and to great acclaim. On 7
October he wrote to his wife in Baden, where she was taking a cure
I have had a letter which Stadler has sent me from Prague [...] And the strangest thing of all
is that on the very evening when my new opera was performed for the first time with such
success Tito was given in Prague for the last time with tremendous applause. Bedini sang
better than ever [...] Cries of Bravo were shouted at Stodla [sic] from the parterre and
even from the orchestra What a miracle for Bohemia. But indeed I did my very best.16

Bedini returned to Italy and in 1792 was singing in the Florence Carnival.
But his voice was by now past its peak and by 1795 he joined the chapel of the
Santa Casa at Loreto in the region of his birth, the Italian Marches. Nothing
further is recorded about his career and it is presumed he died there.

W
ith La clemenza di Tito, Mozarts penultimate opera, came the last
of his castrati. The line stretched back 21 years to his youthful first
opera seria, Mitridate, re di Ponto, followed by six other operas
which featured castrati, including his masterpiece Idomeneo, and Mozart
wrote beautiful music for all of them, demonstrating to the full the features
of the castrato voice. In contrast, his personal opinion of their characters
was often unflattering, but in this respect he probably reflected the views of
many of his contemporary musicians.
La clemenza di Tito coincided with the steady decline in the dominance of
the castrato. Tastes in operatic style had changed, and the frenetic enthusiasm
of audiences in the earlier part of the century with their cries of Evviva il
costello! was replaced with distaste for the very concept of the process.
By 1791 the last top rank operatic castrato, Giovanni Velluti (17801861),
had already been castrated and there was none to replace him. After nearly
200 years the dominance of these exotic creatures on the operatic stage was
coming to an end, although in the Sistine chapel of the Popes, where the
16. ibid., p.967. castrato had originated, they continued for another century.
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