Janet K. Page explores the interaction of music and piety, court and church, as seen through the relationship between the Habsburg court and Vienna's convents. For a period of some twenty-five years, encompassing the end of the reign of Emperor Leopold I and that of his elder son, Joseph I, the court's emphasis on piety and music meshed perfectly with the musical practices of Viennese convents. This mutually beneficial association disintegrated during the eighteenth century, and the changing relationship of court and convents reveals something of the complex connections among the Habsburg court, the Roman Catholic Church, and Viennese society. Identifying and discussing many musical works performed in convents, including oratorios, plays with music, feste teatrali, sepolcri, and other church music, Page reveals a golden age of convent music in Vienna and sheds light on the convents' surprising engagement with contemporary politics.

Janet K. Page explores the interaction of music and piety, court and church, as seen through the relationship between the Habsburg court and Vienna's convents. For a period of some twenty-five years, encompassing the end of the reign of Emperor Leopold I and that of his elder son, Joseph I, the court's emphasis on piety and music meshed perfectly with the musical practices of Viennese convents. This mutually beneficial association disintegrated during the eighteenth century, and the changing relationship of court and convents reveals something of the complex connections among the Habsburg court, the Roman Catholic Church, and Viennese society. Identifying and discussing many musical works performed in convents, including oratorios, plays with music, feste teatrali, sepolcri, and other church music, Page reveals a golden age of convent music in Vienna and sheds light on the convents' surprising engagement with contemporary politics.

Twelve original essays that explore the rich interplay of opera, ballet, and culture in eighteenth-century Europe and beyond and offer new insights into such important figures as Mozart and the castrato Farinelli.Opera and theatrical dance were among the most important, elaborate, and influential products of European culture in the eighteenth century. Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet: New Perspectives on Sources and Practice, compiled and edited by Janet K. Page and Vanessa L. Rogers, gathers together essays by twelve leading scholars of the field.The volume engages with the creation and production of opera and ballet across diverse national traditions within Europe (and, in one chapter, colonial Brazil), the social and artistic lives of singers, historical performance practices, and issues of scholarship and interpretation. The various chapters provide fresh perspectives on major figures of the era, including Goethe, Gluck, and Mozart, renowned singers such as the castrato Farinelli and the soprano Aloisia Lange, and the enormously influential choreographer Gasparo Angiolini.Collectively, the essays illuminate the intricate interconnections that characterized eighteenth-century musical and theatrical culture and reveal new aspects of music and performance during this pivotal era.

Janet K. Page explores the interaction of music and piety, court and church, as seen through the relationship between the Habsburg court and Vienna's convents. For a period of some twenty-five years, encompassing the end of the reign of Emperor Leopold I and that of his elder son, Joseph I, the court's emphasis on piety and music meshed perfectly with the musical practices of Viennese convents. This mutually beneficial association disintegrated during the eighteenth century, and the changing relationship of court and convents reveals something of the complex connections among the Habsburg court, the Roman Catholic Church, and Viennese society. Identifying and discussing many musical works performed in convents, including oratorios, plays with music, feste teatrali, sepolcri, and other church music, Page reveals a golden age of convent music in Vienna and sheds light on the convents' surprising engagement with contemporary politics.

Janet K. Page explores the interaction of music and piety, court and church, as seen through the relationship between the Habsburg court and Vienna's convents. For a period of some twenty-five years, encompassing the end of the reign of Emperor Leopold I and that of his elder son, Joseph I, the court's emphasis on piety and music meshed perfectly with the musical practices of Viennese convents. This mutually beneficial association disintegrated during the eighteenth century, and the changing relationship of court and convents reveals something of the complex connections among the Habsburg court, the Roman Catholic Church, and Viennese society. Identifying and discussing many musical works performed in convents, including oratorios, plays with music, feste teatrali, sepolcri, and other church music, Page reveals a golden age of convent music in Vienna and sheds light on the convents' surprising engagement with contemporary politics.

Twelve original essays that explore the rich interplay of opera, ballet, and culture in eighteenth-century Europe and beyond and offer new insights into such important figures as Mozart and the castrato Farinelli.Opera and theatrical dance were among the most important, elaborate, and influential products of European culture in the eighteenth century. Eighteenth-Century Opera and Ballet: New Perspectives on Sources and Practice, compiled and edited by Janet K. Page and Vanessa L. Rogers, gathers together essays by twelve leading scholars of the field.The volume engages with the creation and production of opera and ballet across diverse national traditions within Europe (and, in one chapter, colonial Brazil), the social and artistic lives of singers, historical performance practices, and issues of scholarship and interpretation. The various chapters provide fresh perspectives on major figures of the era, including Goethe, Gluck, and Mozart, renowned singers such as the castrato Farinelli and the soprano Aloisia Lange, and the enormously influential choreographer Gasparo Angiolini.Collectively, the essays illuminate the intricate interconnections that characterized eighteenth-century musical and theatrical culture and reveal new aspects of music and performance during this pivotal era.