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. Clara Maria Leigh or Clara Maria Pope (c. 1767 – 1838) was a British painter. She taught painting, and her students included Princess Sophia of Gloucester and other members of the British aristocracy. Her work is included in the collection of the Tate Museum.

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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