Rare offering for the theater historian and/or opera aficionado! Offered here is a rare, original
theatrical almanac, published in Paris in 1816 and containing a steel engraving
of the famous singer ANGELICA CATALANI. (Contemporary engravings of Catalani
produced during her lifetime typically sell for $175 to $225.) For the
description and condition please see the photographs and bibliographical
description:
Annuaire dramatique, ou
Etrennes Thátrales orné du portrait de Mad. Catalani. Douzieme année.
Paris: chez Rosa Libraire, 1816. 320 pp. In original paper wrappers. The steel
engraving is after a portrait painted of Catalani in London by Clara Maria Pope
in 1812.
Theatrical almanacs are extremely
important for theatre and stage research. This annual contains the names of
playwrights, actors, dancers, musicians for those active in Paris’s theaters
for the year 1815. Such almanacs are also known for their calendars or chronologies
as well as necrologies.
Angelica Catalani (1780 –
1849) was an Italian dramatic soprano of nearly three octaves in range. Her
voice’s unsurpassed power and flexibility made her one of the greatest bravura
singers of all time. She also worked as a singing teacher. Her pupils included
Laure Cinti-Damoreau and Fanny Corri-Paltoni. She was a close friend to both
Beethoven and Rossini. Her voice was so full, powerful, and clear, her
intonation so pure and true, and her instinctive execution of difficult and
brilliant music so easy and unfaltering, that her singing had a charm which has
scarcely ever been equaled, and her very first steps in a theatrical career
were marked by the most extraordinary success. When she began, the favorite
style was that of expressive and pathetic song, and in this she never produced
the effect which she subsequently made in bravura.
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