Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet

Twelve original essays that explore the rich interplay of opera, ballet, and culture in eighteenth-century Europe and beyond and offer new insights into such important figures as Mozart and the castrato Farinelli.


Opera and theatrical dance were among the most important, elaborate, and influential products of European culture in the eighteenth century. Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet: New Perspectives on Sources and Practice, compiled and edited by Janet K. Page and Vanessa L. Rogers, gathers together essays by twelve leading scholars of the field.
The volume engages with the creation and production of opera and ballet across diverse national traditions within Europe (and, in one chapter, colonial Brazil), the social and artistic lives of singers, historical performance practices, and issues of scholarship and interpretation. The various chapters provide fresh perspectives on major figures of the era, including Goethe, Gluck, and Mozart, renowned singers such as the castrato Farinelli and the soprano Aloisia Lange, and the enormously influential choreographer Gasparo Angiolini.

Collectively, the essays illuminate the intricate interconnections that characterized eighteenth-century musical and theatrical culture and reveal new aspects of music and performance during this pivotal era.

VANESSA ROGERS is Associate Professor of Music and Elizabeth G. Daughdrill Chair in Fine Arts at Rhodes College, VT and Principal Researcher for the website Ballad Operas Online: An Electronic Catalogue.

JANET K PAGE is Professor of Musicology at the University of Memphis, TN and author of Convent Music and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Vienna.