Mozart on the Stage is the first book of a new series published by Cambridge University Press, Composers on the Stage, which aims to investigate the cultural world in which operas were created and received. In his first sentence, John Rice asks a pertinent question: ‘What possible justification can there be, in the aftermath of Mozart's two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday in 2006, for adding to the large number of books, many of them first rate, that have been written about his operas?’ (xi) The study itself provides an unambiguously positive answer. Organized thematically from the commission of operas through to their premieres and beyond, it presents an elegant and convincing picture of the way Mozart went about composing these works.

A particular strength of this book is its emphasis on the theatrical aspects of opera, such as stage designs, sets and scenery. The text is accompanied by a wide range of contemporary prints illustrating the ‘look’ of opera, much in the manner of the classic study Mozart's Operas by Daniel Heartz, the dedicatee of Rice's book (Berkeley and Oxford: University of California Press, 1990; edited, with contributing essays, by Thomas Bauman). Among these are some compelling images, such as the bare-looking stage in Vienna on which Luigi Marchesi and Caterina Cavalieri enacted the climax of Sarti's Giulio Sabino. There is some ingenious reconstruction too, with a superimposition of the famous engraving of Luigi Bassi as Don Giovanni upon a contemporary stage design, both framed by the proscenium of the Nostitz Theatre taken from a third source. Rice emphasizes the importance of the alternation of long and short sets to the smooth staging of eighteenth-century opera and selects a telling example from Don Giovanni to illustrate how Da Ponte and Mozart made the best use of the necessity for a short set – one that allowed little depth on stage. By positioning Donna Anna at the front of the stage (on a short set) for her powerfully expressive rondò ‘Non mi dir’, they improved the chances of the singer's being able to communicate effectively with the audience. This was by no means an insignificant consideration, as the attention of the listeners certainly could not be taken for granted. Mozart himself confessed on one occasion to having chattered throughout an entire opera by Paisiello.

Although Rice does not discuss the individual operas as such, a number of aesthetic issues facing the composer as a creative artist were necessarily influenced by practical relationships, and these are considered fully. The responsibilities of the librettist, often misunderstood in past studies, are clearly delineated, including the duty to rehearse singers in their acting roles. While in many respects the working partnership between Da Ponte and Mozart remains frustratingly elusive through the lack of detailed evidence, Rice's admirable summation of the librettist's overall contribution provides a good example of the clarity and concision of his style: ‘Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così are not only full of purely musical beauties, but they crackle with theatrical intelligence, energy, and wit in a way that differentiates their librettos even from those that Da Ponte wrote for Salieri, Martín y Soler and his other Viennese collaborators’ (90).

Another topic on which Rice himself has made major contributions in the past is the creative relationship that existed between Mozart and his singers. The composer's avowed ideal was to suit each aria to its singer, avoiding the performer's weaknesses and exploiting his or her strengths. The success of this strategy can be assessed by examining other roles known to have been taken by the performer in question. As a case study, Rice reviews the career of Antonio Baglioni and presents significant new information about his movements, notably the fact that he had engagements in Italy in the summer of 1787 and so could not have joined the Prague troupe until shortly before the premiere of Don Giovanni. Rice tackles head-on a seeming paradox: the fact that Mozart composed two very fine roles (Don Ottavio and Tito) for a performer whose contemporary reception was far from uniformly enthusiastic. Through analysis of the many roles that Baglioni is likely to have sung, Rice is able to demonstrate that he was a performer of real substance, and, as luck would have it, a new source that has come to light since the publication of Mozart on the Stage has confirmed most of these attributions (I plan to discuss this discovery in a future publication). All this goes to show how easy it is for a single negative reaction (in this case that of Franz Xaver Niemetschek) to influence unduly the broader assessment of a singer's achievement.

One of the most striking things to emerge from Rice's study is the unevenness of the historical record, and the number of occasions on which conclusions about important questions are dependent upon a single source. A wealth of fascinating detail about the composition of Italian opera is to be found in the early Mozart correspondence. As a young man, he learnt his craft in the relatively well-regulated Italian system, so much more predictable than the idiosyncratic one he came to know in Vienna. Rice makes much more effective use of this material than has been done hitherto. From the period of Mozart's early maturity, there are the wonderful letters written during the preparations for Idomeneo and Die Entführung, which are full of his worries and frustrations, but which also express his enthusiasm and the pride that he took in his work. Unfortunately, though, Mozart never again had occasion to reveal his thoughts about opera in such detail, and for the Da Ponte operas the paucity of direct evidence is disappointing. Many of the most significant statements are distant in time from the events they describe: Niemetschek's myth-making about the composer's ‘special relationship’ with Prague; Constanze's recollections in old age about her husband's favourite pieces; Luigi Bassi's reported comments on the role of free improvisation in early Don Giovanni performances; and Da Ponte's claim (reported second-hand) that he had urged upon the serious-minded Mozart the importance of comedy. Rice takes this category of evidence from the hinterland between myth and reality seriously – indeed, there is little choice but to do so.

For all its emphasis on the operatic systems in which Mozart worked, this study never loses sight of the human dimension. Theatrical experiences shaped the composer from his earliest childhood. He remained an avid play-goer, mixed with performers of all kinds – actors as well as musicians – and constantly talked about performance. There can be little doubt that the success of his operas mattered intensely to Mozart, perhaps more so than the reception accorded to his other music. Rice conveys vividly the emotions he must have felt, such as the sense of anxiety as a premiere drew near and the excitement once the performance was underway. Admittedly, we do not hear from the adult composer on such matters, but Salieri, who could be very eloquent about his feelings, is allowed to speak on his behalf. Imaginative touches of this kind are seen throughout the book and make for a very satisfying narrative. With its expert handling of evidence of all kinds, Rice's study must count as the best portrait yet of Mozart as a man of the theatre, sharply and convincingly drawn.