Caterina Cavalieri

Caterina Cavalieri in Ignaz Umlauf's Singspiel Die Bergknappen

Caterina Cavalieri , also Katharina Cavalieri , completely Katharina Magdalena Josepha Cavalier (born March 13, 1755 in Lichtental in Vienna , † June 30, 1801 in Vienna) was an Austrian opera singer and one of the most famous sopranos of her time.

Life

As a very young girl, the daughter of a school teacher was used to sing in church. Art lovers soon noticed her beautiful voice, whereupon they initiated the training of the talented singer with Antonio Salieri , who promoted her throughout her life. As early as 1775 she made her debut at the Italian opera Pasquale Anfossi's La Finta giardiniera in Vienna. Immediately after the establishment of the “German National Singspiel” by Emperor Joseph II, she was hired for this stage, where she celebrated her greatest triumphs as one of the best-paid singers. a. in Ignaz Umlauf's Singspiel Die Bergknappen (already premiered on February 18, 1778) and in Salieri's musical comedy Der Rauchfangkehrer (1781). After 1790 she slowly withdrew from the stage, on March 1, 1793 she was retired. Little is known about the last years of her life. In 1801 she died unmarried in Vienna; an alleged liaison with Salieri is based on a rumor raised by the poet Lorenzo da Ponte that an affair with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart must also be relegated to the realm of fantasy.

Her very thoroughly trained, powerful, clear voice had an extraordinary range and an almost legendary fluency, which numerous composers paid tribute to. During his stay in Vienna in 1783, the composer Joseph Martin Kraus was less impressed by Cavalieri's voice and describes it in his diary as "small but melodious".

Mozart wrote for her the part of Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), the soprano part in Davidde penitente (1785) and the role of Mademoiselle Silberklang in Der Schauspieldirektor (1786), as well as Donna Elvira's major aria for the Viennese performance of Don Giovanni (1788).

Cavalieri is a silent role in Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus . The speaking role of the Cavalieri in Miloš Forman's Oscar- winning Amadeus film is played by Christine Ebersole and sung by Suzanne Murphy .

literature

• Daniel Brandenburg:  Cavalieri, Caterina. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 4 (Camarella - Couture). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1114-4 , Sp. 462–463 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
• Constantin von Wurzbach : Cavallieri, Katharina . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 14th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1865, p. 413 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Carl Ferdinand Pohl:  Cavalieri, Catharina . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 76 f.
• Ludwig Eisenberg : Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century . Published by Paul List , Leipzig 1903, p. 153.
• Karl Maria Pisarowitz: Mozart's "Common Gurgles" and their appendix. Cavalierism. In: Communications from the International Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg , 1/2 (1961), pp. 14–19.
• Bertil van Boer: The Travel Diary of Joseph Martin Kraus: Translation and Commentary . In: The Journal of Musicology , Vol. 8, No. 2: 266-290 (1990).
• Patricia Lewy Gidwitz: 'I am the first singer'. Vocal profiles of two Mozart sopranos. In: Early Music , Nov. 1991, pp. 565-576.
• Eugen and Karin Ott : The common throat of the Mlle Cavalieri: Ornate vocal music with Mozart. in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Vol. 212, No. 279, November 30 / December 1, 1991, p. 71.
• Helmut Kretschmer: Mozart's "common throat" - the singer Catarina Cavalieri. In: Viennese Figaro. Mitteilungsblatt der Mozartgemeinde Wien , 56/5 (1999), issue 3/4, pp. 9-16 (with different year of birth).
• Rudolph Angermüller : Antonio Salieri. Documents of his life . 3 vols. Bock, Bad Honnef 2000.