An opera tailored to the singers

Mozart composed his first Viennese opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, for a cast of outstanding singers. His primadonna was Caterina Cavalieri, a young and promising soprano who studied with Hofkapellmeister Antonio Salieri, and for whom the composer tailored the role of Konstanze. Mozart, who praised her “agile voice” in a letter to his father, wrote three tremendously difficult arias for her which require at the same time complete mastery of coloratura singing, wide vocal range, intense lyricism and remarkable vocal power to face the massive orchestration of Konstanze’s well-known aria 'Marten aller Arten'. Her partner on stage was the tenor Valentin Adamberger, one of Mozart’s closest friends in Vienna. He was trained as a singer according to the precepts of the Italian singing school, which enabled him to make a career in Italy…