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The present database contains insertion numbers
that were used in Viennese performances of opere buffe mostly
imported from Italy from 1763 onwards. Information on all of the
inserted arias, duets and ensembles which could be identified
through analysis of preserved libretti and scores of Viennese
versions and the comparison with sources of other provenance has
been recorded.
The entries in the database reproduce the text of each number
and (if preserved) the respective musical incipit. They also provide
information about the authors, the provenance of the pieces and
their position inside the operas as well as the singers who performed
them. Besides, biographical information can be found, especially
about the singers, their activities in Vienna and their potential
role in importing single musical numbers or complete operas.
An important objective consisted of finding out further details
about the history of single insertion numbers. Often it is possible
to ascertain that they were composed exclusively for a Viennese
performance, for instance when the music was demonstrably written
by Florian Gassmann or Antonio Salieri, the opera directors of
that period. However, in many cases the music was taken from other
operas, which perhaps came to Vienna as an aria di baule of a
particular singer and whose provenance had to be determined as
precisely as possible.
In the database it is possible to search in a structured way (by
aria, opera, composer, librettist, singer, libretto, score) in
order to retrieve the insertion numbers used in a single opera
or the arias sung by a certain singer. Alternatively there is
the possibility of a full-text search, by which for instance an
insertion number can be found through individual verses or key
words.
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