orchestra, costumes, or scenery and lighting. (Annali d'ltalia, 1690.)
[ C. M. P. ]
MANUAL (from manus, a hand), a clavier, or set of keys, to be played by the hands. The term is used chiefly in reference to the Organ, where the keyboards for the hands and the keyboard for the feet have, for convenience, to be distinguished by some brief and suggestive name. Clavier (from clavis, a key) simply means a keyboard, without reference to the members of the body with which it is to be played.
[ E. J. H. ]
MANZOLETTO, a very tolerable 'second man,' who appeared in London with Pacchierotti and Mme. Lebrun, in 1779; and remained there with success for two or three seasons, singing in such operas as 'Alessandro,' 'Zemira,' 'Eicimero,' 'Giunio Bruto,' and 'I Viaggiatori Felici,' in 1782. He was heard again three years later by Lord Mount-Edgcumbe, in Naples and Mantua; but never revisited England.
[ J. M. ]
MANZUOLI, Giovanni, was born at Florence about 1725. Having acquired a reputation in Italy, he repaired, in 1753, to Madrid, where he was engaged at a high salary by Farinelli. In 1764 and 1765 he came to London, and, by his performance, 'the serious opera acquired a degree of favour to which it had seldom mounted since its first establishment in this country' (Burney). His voice was the most powerful soprano that had been heard on our stage since the time of Farinelli, and his style was full of taste and dignity. The applause he earned was hearty and unequivocal; 'it was a universal thunder.' Other singers had more art and feeling; none possessed a sweeter or fuller organ. As to execution, he had none; but he was a good actor, though unwieldy in figure, and ill-made. Nor was he young; but the sensation he excited seems to have been irresistible. All the composers struggled to have the honour of writing for him; even Dr. Arne composed his unsuccessful 'Olimpiade' for the popular singer. Manzuoli, however, left England at the end of the season, and did not return. In the same year he was at Vienna, and he shortly afterwards retired to his native place, with the title of 'Singer to the Court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.'
In a letter[1] of Mozart's, his first after starting on his Italian tour, Jan. 7, 1770, he says of a singer whom he heard, 'canta un poco Manzuolisch ed a una bellissima voce forte ed é già vecchio,' etc. Burney heard him again, in September of that year, taking part in a service in a convent near Florence, and was delighted, though the voice seemed less powerful, even in a small church, than when he was in England. His name occurs once more, in one of the elder Mozart's letters, written in the following August, 'Manzuoli often visits us;' and he is included among 'the singers, not only celebrated in their profession, but goodhearted and sensible people.' He took part in the 'Serenata' composed by the young Mozart in honour of the nuptials of the Archduke Ferdinand, at Milan, Oct. 17, 1771, and was encored in one of his songs. Mozart writes again, Nov. 24, 1771:—'Herr Manzuoli, the musico, who has always been considered and esteemed as the best of his class, has in his old age given a proof of his folly and arrogance. He was engaged at the Opera for the sum of 500 gigliati (ducats), but as no mention was made of the Serenata in the contract, he demanded 500 ducats more for singing in it, making 1000. The court only sent him 700 and a gold box (and enough too, I think), but he returned the 700 ducats and the box, and went away without anything. I don't know what the result of this history will be,—a bad one, I fear!' A good portrait of Manzuoli was engraved by G. B. Betti, after a design by L. Betti. Among his pupils was the celebrated Coltellini.
[ J. M. ]
MAOMETTO SECONDO. Opera by Rossini. Produced at San Carlo, Naples, during the Carnaval of 1820; adapted and extended as Le Siége De Corinthe. The aria 'Sorgete,' for a bass voice, is often sung at concerts.
[ G. ]
MAPLESON, James Henry, a well-known London impresario. He was a student at the Royal Academy, appeared in public as a singer, and for some time played among the violas in the orchestra. Later he was assistant to Mr. E. T. Smith at Her Majesty's Theatre, and when Mr. Smith announced, in 1861, his intention of abandoning Italian Opera, Mr. Mapleson took the Lyceum, and commenced his career as a manager. He opened there on June 5, 1861; and on the 15th produced Verdi's 'Ballo in Maschera' for the first time in England. His first season at Her Majesty's was 1862, when Trebelli made her début in England; the burning of Her Majesty's drove him to Drury Lane in 1868. He joined Mr. Gye in 1869; the coalition lasted two seasons, and in 1871 he returned to Drury Lane. On April 28, 1877, he reopened Her Majesty's Theatre, of which he is still manager. Mr. Mapleson has lately taken his company to the United States in the intervals of the London season.
[ G. ]
MARA, Gertrude Elisabeth, one of the greatest singers of the last century, was born at Cassel, Feb. 23, 1749. Her mother died soon after the birth of this child, and her father, a poor musician, named Schmeling, is said to have adopted the plan of securing his little daughter in an armchair, while he attended to his affairs. From this cause, it appears, she fell into a rickety state, from which it was long ere she recovered, if indeed she ever recovered entirely. Schmeling contrived to increase his income by mending musical instruments, and the little Gertrude one day got hold of a violin, and began to draw musical sounds from it, being then only four years old. For this she was punished by her father; but the temptation was too strong to be resisted, and she seized every opportunity of practising on such, instruments as she could find, whenever Schmeling's back was turned. He found her, however, before long, to his astonishment, playing on a violin, of which she had mastered the scale.
- ↑ In the collection of the present writer.
