Sending Information on Vocal Range and Abilities in Eighteenth-Century Italy: New Insights into a Specific Opera Management Procedure, 1730–1760

While examining diverse archival sources relating to eighteenth-century Italian opera, I have come across references to the practice of singers, composers and theatre agents exchanging information about ‘corde’, ‘tuoni’, ‘virtuoso di cantabile’ and ‘abbilità’. To what were they referring with these words? In this essay, I show that the notes that singers were able to produce were termed ‘corde’ or ‘tuoni’; and that the quality of their voices, including their virtuoso singing capabilities, was designated by the expressions ‘virtuoso di cantabile’ and ‘abbilità’. Additionally, I show that this information was sent by mail to facilitate a composer's work in absentia .