Rauzzini's Concerts in the 1780s

Although the concerts that Rauzzini presented in Bath under his management were in many ways similar to those which he had codirected with La Motte, a significant social change had been effected when Rauzzini took over: a castrato had assumed a position of cultural leadership for one of the most affluent audiences in Britain. La Motte's earlier involvement with the Bath concerts had maintained a veneer of tradition which kept complaints about the possible negative influence of the castrato voice in check. When Rauzzini undertook sole management of the concerts, he invited the distrust of those who believed that a castrato either was incapable of effective decision-making or, worse, might unsettle the accepted norms of society. Until the outbreak of war with France in 1793, Rauzzini's wise stewardship of the concert series appears to have kept such fears largely in check. Thereafter, he was open to occasional complaints that appear to have arisen out of xenophobic interests and fear over the outcome of the war.

Rauzzini inherited a successful formula for his concerts, and continued to present miscellaneous programs with orchestra in two parts or “Acts.” The concerts usually began in the second week of November and finished by the end of January. Although Rauzzini initially continued the earlier practice of offering a subscription of ten concerts, this was eventually reduced to eight concerts, to be followed by a possible subscription of two or three concerts during Holy Week. The drawing card of the main subscription series remained the presence of illustrious vocal and instrumental soloists. Although the concerts began with an “overture” (most likely a symphony) by Stamitz, Pleyel or especially in later years, Haydn, the bulk of the evening was given over to songs, arias, and concertos. Initially, Rauzzini programmed recent music in his concerts. After 1784, he decided to capitalize upon the British fascination with the music of Handel and divided his two acts into “Modern” and “Antient” music. The act that contained “Ancient” music (the modern spelling is used hereafter) featured primarily Handel's music. The latter had died only in 1759 but his style was different from the recent German and Austrian music featured in the first act of “Modern” music.