Professional career and family life of Viennese Primadonnas. The case of Catarina Cavalieri and Aloysia Weber (Lange)

The aim of this article is to present the issue of female singers and their role in the society of eighteenth-century Vienna on the example of two women: Mozart’s sister-in-law Aloysia, née Weber, later Lange, and Catarina Cavalieri, the first Constance. These singers were rivals on the opera stage in late 18th century Vienna, as evidenced by the parts written for them by Mozart in his Der Schauspieldirektor. From the social point of view, the biographies of these two outstanding singers are very different.