Simon Mayr (1763–1845)
- Balthazar, Scott L. “Mayr, Rossini, and the Development of the Early concer-
tatoFinale.” JRMA116 (1991): 236–266.
Mayr was one of the now obscure composers who shaped the transition (in
1795–1815) from opera seriato 19th-century melodramma. The concertato
finale of the penultimate act of serious opera is found in Mayr and was already
developed before Rossini used it (and got credit for inventing it). - Shaheen, Ronald Thomas. “Neoclassic Influences in the Two Versions of Gio-
vanni Simone Mayr’s Lodoiska.” Ph.D. diss., U. of California at Los Angeles, - xviii, 665p.
Domenico Mazzocchi (1592–1663)
- Witzenmann, Wolfgang. “Domenico Mazzocchi, 1592–1663: Dokumente und
Interpretationen.” Analecta musicologica8 (1970): 1–282.
An issue of the journal is devoted to this scholarly biography based on the
author’s Ph.D. dissertation, U. of Tübingen, 1970. All the works are discussed,
including the opera La catena d’Adone(1626), his best-known composition.
Virgilio Mazzocchi (1597–1646)
Like his brother, Domenico, Virgilio is remembered for one successful opera, Chi sof-
fre speri(1637); see Bianconi (#2449).
Étienne Nicolas Méhul (1763–1817)
- Pougin, Arthur. Méhul: Sa vie, son génie, son caractère.Paris: Fischbacher,
- 309p. Reprint, Geneva: Minkoff, 1973. ISBN 2-8266-0104-0. ML410
.M49 P8.
There was a second edition (not seen) in 1893 of this dependable biography.
Well footnoted, with extensive quotations from correspondence. Detailed
accounts of performances but nothing about the music itself. Chronological
list of the operas, with premiere dates and theaters. No bibliography or index. - Strobel, Heinrich. “Die Opern von E. N. Méhul.” ZfM6 (1923–1924): 362–
Plots, program notes, and some technical comments, with 38 musical examples.
- Cordes, Robert de. “Étienne Nicolas Méhul’s Euphrosineand Stratonice: A
Transition from comédie mêlée d’ariettestoopéra-comique.” Ph.D. diss., U. of
Southern California, 1979. - Bartlet, M. Elizabeth. “Étienne Nicolas Méhul and Opera during the French
Revolution, Consulate, and Empire: A Source, Archival, and Stylistic Study.”
Ph.D. diss., U. of Chicago, 1982. 5v. - Bartlet, M. Elizabeth. “A Newly Discovered Opera for Napoleon.” AM 56
(1984): 266–296.
226 Opera