Beyond the Work: the Story of the Opera Production for the Wedding of Frederick Augustus and Maria Josepha (1719)

On 13 September 1719, the opera Teofane, with music by Antonio Lotti and libretto by Stefano Pallavicini, was premiered in Dresden as one of many artistic events to mark the wedding of the Saxon Electoral Prince Frederick Augustus and Maria Josepha, the elder daughter of Emperor Joseph I. It was also one of the last monumental stagings of court opera in 18th-century Europe. Preparations began well in advance, but difficulties in finding a suitable librettist and subject continued until March 1719. Crucially, it was not so much a matter of obtaining an excellent libretto as of ensuring that it was fully in line with the Saxon political agenda of the time. Further difficulties arose from the vocal cast, originally composed of a troupe of Italian singers led by Lotti, as attempts to replace some of them with cheaper German singers failed. Count Christoph August Wackerbarth, minister in the Saxon Privy Council, was a central figure in the whole process. A close reading of his correspondence with Prince Frederick Augustus and King Augustus the Strong between 1718 and 1719 provides an insight into the details and allows us to reconstruct and understand the decision-making mechanisms at the Dresden court in artistic matters.