ABSTRACT
Musicological studies on nineteenth-century opera have always given ample space to the composer's perspective, often leading to excellent results. When the singer has reached the cadenza, the conductor will stop the entire orchestra and give complete free rein to the virtuoso or virtuosa. In all likelihood, the brief cadenza written in smaller note-heads by Donizetti, whose end is marked by a fermata, was only intended as an initial suggestion for the singer and was not in the least 'prescriptive'. In all probability, the first Lucia di Lammermoor, Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, a coloratura soprano with an impeccable technique and extraordinary agility in embellishing, sang a more elaborate cadenza, such as the one found a little later in a Fantasia for oboe and piano. In Italy, Verdi Arias was the first to take on a more markedly creative role, even though he still had to make compromises with singers, especially with respect to his earliest works.
