Attilio Ariosti as a Composer of Vocal Duets

Abstract

In the first seasons of the Royal Academy of Music in London, its directors saw George Frideric Handel as one among several composers whose style reflected expectations of what Italian opera in London should be like. At one point, Handel’s slightly older Italian contemporaries Giovanni Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti were in equal positions to compete for success. This paper will focus on Attilio Ariosti as the seemingly most moderate party in the rivalry between the three composers to see if the specificities of the centers he was active in affected his output in the realm of the vocal duet, a less common and somewhat less important constituent of dramatic vocal genres as opposed to the dominant arias. The examination of duets in some of Ariosti’s works written for Berlin, Vienna, and London, and some comparisons with the duets by both Bononcini and Handel will shed a light on these relationships affected by competition and rivalry.