(Maria) Dorothea Wendling,

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Spurni (21 March 1736 – 20 August 1811) was a German

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. Born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, she is remembered for being the singer for whom

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

wrote the role of Ilia

Hermann Abert Hermann Abert (; 25 March 1871 – 13 August 1927) was a German historian of music. Life Abert was born in Stuttgart, the son of Johann Josef Abert (1832–1915), the ''Hofkapellmeister'' of that city. From 1890 to 1896 he studied classical ...

, ''Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'' (English edition), p. 540 in ''

Idomeneo, re di Creta ' (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French ...

''. She sang the role of

Sabina Sabina may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Sabina (region), region and place in Italy, and hence: * the now Suburbicarian Diocese of Sabina (-Poggio Mirteto), Italy * Magliano Sabina, city, Italy * Pozzaglia Sabina, city, Italy *Fara Sab ...

in the 1768 premiere of

Ignaz Holzbauer Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the ''Sturm und Drang'' "m ...

's opera , based on

Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

of that name. In 1752 she married flautist and composer

Johann Baptist Wendling Johann Baptist Wendling (baptised 17 June 1723 – 27 November 1797) was a flute player and composer of the Mannheim School. He held the position of principal flute in the Mannheim and Munich court orchestras under directors Johann Stamitz and Chr ...

. They had a daughter, (1752–1794). Her sister-in-law was

Elisabeth Wendling Elisabeth ("Lisl") Augusta Wendling, (née Sarselli; 20 February 1746 (baptised) – 10 January 1786) was a German soprano, for whom Mozart wrote the role of Electra in his opera ''Idomeneo, re di Creta''. Wendling was born in Mannheim. There ...

(1746–1786). Elisabeth and Dorothea performed in the 1772 premiere of

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...

's ''

Temistocle ''Temistocle'' (''Themistocles'') is an opera seria in three acts by the German composer Johann Christian Bach. The Italian text is an extensive revision of the libretto by Metastasio first set by Antonio Caldara in 1736, by Mattia Verazi, cou ...

''. Dorothea Wendling died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

References

1736 births 1811 deaths Musicians from Stuttgart German operatic sopranos Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's singers 18th-century German women opera singers {{opera-singer-stub