Adriana Ferrarese del Bene - Mozart's Fiordiligi

Adriana Ferrarese del Bene
(around 1755 - after 1804)

Born around 1755 in Ferrara, Adriana Ferrarese studied music at the Conservatory in Venice. She began her career as an opera singer in her native Italy, and then got a two-year engagement in London. She was active in Vienna from 1788 to 1791, after which she returned to Italy. She was the first Fiordiligi in music history and she also sang the role of Susanna, because Nancy Storace was no longer in Vienna at that moment.

Adriana Ferrarese as Susanna

"I love when an aria suits a singer like a well-tailored suit." - so wrote Mozart to his father Leopold, who confirmed his son never composed arias unless he knew the singer's vocal capabilities. At that time, it was already well-established practice for composers to write music for particular singers. It was even common for composers to write new arias if the original artist was unavailable.

This happened in 1789, when the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" was being staged for the second time. Since Nancy Storace, the first Susanna in music history, was no longer working in Vienna at the time, Mozart had to write two new arias for a new singer - Adriana Ferrarese del Bene. As she could not show her acting skills, as was the case with Nancy Storace, Mozart decided to emphasize her vocal qualities. In the aria of Susanna Al desio di chi t'adora the vocal demands are more evident than in those written for Nancy. Besides that, the music of this piece is even more beautiful because Mozart used obligatory instruments as an accompaniment for the singer. These were two basset horns, two bassoons and two horns.

Adriana Ferrarese as Fiordiligi

Mozart emphasized Adriana's vocal qualities when he wrote arias for her. This is evident in the arias he wrote as substitutes for Susanna, but most of all for Fiordiligi. Adriana's voice had three significant features - very good quality of the lower register, perfect executions of high notes and flexibility of the voice. This is evident in Fiordiligi's aria Come scoglio. As Ferrarese had well-developed lower register, Mozart used them in abundance, but not as passing notes of shorter duration. On the contrary, these note were placed on the strong beats and were written in long note values. That is why a singer has to master them well. Likewise, Adriana easily sang high notes and could easily manage large interval leaps, so Mozart emphasized that too. Those leaps often went over an octave, which means singers need to have a well balanced chest and head voice. Mozart also utilized the agility of Adriana's voice by writing lengthy coloratura passages covering almost the entire range of her voice. This aria is still one of the most demanding for sopranos today.

Other roles

When she made her debut as Diana in Soler's opera "L'arbore di Diana" in 1788, Adriana Ferrarese was praised for her powerful voice. In one Viennese newspaper a critic wrote: "...besides her incredible high register she has a striking lower register, and music connoisseurs claim that they have not heard such a voice in Vienna for a long time. They only complain that her acting skills are not at the level of her singing."

That Adriana really sang big interval leaps with ease and confidence is evident in the aria Alfin son sola...Sola e mesta fra tormenti from Salieri's opera "La cifra", which was first performed in Vienna in 1789.