Paul Edward Corneilson, Ph.D. 1992

Advisor: James Haar

Dissertation Title: Opera at Mannheim, 1770-1778

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Dissertation Abstract:

In November 1780 Mozart traveled from Salzburg to Munich to finish writing Idomeneo, an opera that reflects his musical experiences at Mannheim, Munich, and Paris, in 1777 and 1778. Most decisive was his encounter with the music establishment of elector palatine Carl Theodor at Mannheim. The famous orchestra was called “an army of generals, equally fit to plan a battle, as to fight it,” and magnificent operas were performed regularly at the court theater. During his stay, Mozart won the respect of the musicians with his skills as a composer and performer. Mannheim opera in the 1770s sets the stage for Mozart’s Idomeneo, written for and supervised by basically the same group of people. 

Drawing on a variety of sources, including newly identified reports and music manuscripts, this dissertation re-examines the historical and cultural context of opera at Mannheim. A relatively stable company of singers maintained high standards of performance in Italian and German, comic and serious, operas. Together with the orchestra, these singers helped to shape the musical character of the arias and ensembles. In 1770 Anton Raaff, the most famous tenor of the day, arrived at court; in the next decade he sang the title roles in the major operas, including Idomeneo. The principal soprano roles were shared by Dorothea Wendling (the first Ilia) and her sister-inlaw Elisabeth Wendling (Elettra). 

Musical tastes at Mannheim were eclectic. A series of “reform” operas by Jommelli, Traetta, and Majo—all to librettos by Mattia Verazi—yielded to works by a new generation of composers in about 1770. Italian opere serie by Piccinni (Catone in Utica, 1770) and J. C. Bach (Temistocle, 1772 and Lucio Silla, 1775) were superseded by serious German operas with performances of Wieland and Schweitzer’s Alceste, by Marchand’s company in 1775. This period of opera at Mannheim culminated with Holzbauer’s Günther von Schwarzburg (1777) and Schweitzer’s Rosamunde, scheduled for carnival 1778 but postponed following the death of the elector of Bavaria, Maximilian III Joseph. Less than a year later, Carl Theodor (now duke of Bavaria) transferred his court to Munich. Because of this accident of fate, Idomeneo, the most famous “Mannheim opera,” had its premiere in Munich. 

Dr. Corneilson has worked as an editor of music editions since 1996, first at AR Editions and, since 2000, at the Packard Humanities Institute as the Managing Editor of the Complete Works of CPE Bach, an critical edition that is published in handsome blue volumes as well as online, at https://cpebach.org/index.html.