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Castrato Singers as Composers: The Case of Luigi Marchesi's London Sets of Ariette (1788‐9)
Author(s) -
Laterza Marilena
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal for eighteenth‐century studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.129
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1754-0208
pISSN - 1754-0194
DOI - 10.1111/1754-0208.12622
Subject(s) - piano , opera , art , musical , subject (documents) , context (archaeology) , order (exchange) , vocal music , harp , literature , singing , music , art history , visual arts , history , music education , computer science , acoustics , physics , archaeology , finance , library science , economics
As well as being one of the outstanding castrati of the eighteenth century, Luigi Marchesi was also an occasional composer, particularly during his London years (1788‐90). This article examines Marchesi's only published compositions – two sets of ariettas for voice and piano or harp – reconstructing their context and reception, and analysing their texts and music, in order not only to give a more complete picture of the singer but also to investigate both the approach of late eighteenth‐century opera singers to musical creation and the previously neglected subject of vocal chamber music on Italian texts in late eighteenth‐century London.