Stefano Mandini

The first time Mozart composed music for Mandini to sing was not a complete opera but rather an insertion piece, composed for a revival performance of Francesco Bianchi's opera La villanella rapita. This is the trio "Mandina amabile", K. 480, from act 1 of the opera, performed 5 and 21 November, 1785.^[2]

When Mandini was cast as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (premiered 1 May 1786), Mozart followed his normal practice in tailoring the music to the singer's strengths.^[3] In the opera, the biggest scene for the Count is his long solo appearance near the start of Act 3, where he first ponders his options (recitative), then expresses rage at Figaro (Allegro maestoso), and finally breaks out into triumph and joy (Allegro assai) as he imagines revenge.^[4] Keefe notes that in preparing this scene, Mozart followed his normal practice, preparing a particella, a score "comprising vocal lines, an instrumental bass line and occasional instrument material" (this is known today because the parts of the particella were in darker ink). Keefe suggests that, at Mozart's invitation, Mandini inspected the particella and requested a change, namely the insertion of coloratura material near the very end. Mozart obliged him with three measures of virtuosity, with rapid triplets rising to a trill on C sharp.^[5] Thus some of the actual content of the opera may be attributable to Mandini's influence.^[6]

Lyrics: "and makes me rejoice"

Keefe (2017), drawing on press comments of Mandini's time, infers he was capable of "splendid acting" and possessed "strong vocal technique".^[7] The tenor Michael Kelly, who sang with Mandini in the Marriage of Figaro premiere, felt that his two baritone collaborators, Mandini and the celebrated Francesco Benucci (who sang Figaro) were "the two best comic singers in Europe".^[8] When he journeyed to Saint Peterburg, his singing was admired by the painter Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.^[1]

Sources

• Keefe, Simon (2017) Mozart in Vienna: The final decade. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Raeburn, Christopher (2001). "Mandini, Stefano". Grove Music Online. revised by Dorothea Link (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/omo/9781561592630.013.90000381143. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription, Wikilibrary access, or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
• Spaethling, Robert (2000) Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life. New York: Norton.