Lange, Aloysia (c. 1761–1839)

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Lange, Aloysia (c. 1761–1839)

German soprano who originated several roles in operas written by Mozart. Name variations: Aloysia Weber. Born Maria Aloysia Louise Antonia Weber in Zell or Mannheim, Germany, between 1759 and 1761; died in Salzburg, Austria, on June 8, 1839; daughter of Fridolin Weber (1733–1779, a musician and uncle of Carl Maria von Weber) and Cecilia Weber ; studied with Mozart in Mannheim; sister of Constanze Weber Mozart (who married Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Josepha Weber Hofer (c. 1758–1819, a soprano), and Sophie Weber (1763–1846, who wrote of Mozart's death and married composer Jakob Haibel); married Joseph Lange (1751–1831, a painter), on October 31, 1780.

Aloysia Lange was born Aloysia Weber into a musical family in 1761. Her sister Josepha Weber Hofer was a soprano while another sister, Sophie Weber , married the composer Jakob Haibel. Aloysia is best remembered for her close association with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who once fell in love with her. They first met in 1777–78. Though Mozart married another of her sisters, Constanze Weber (Mozart) , he first proposed to Aloysia.

Lange studied with Mozart and Vogler in Mannheim, where the young composer wrote seven concert arias and a role in Der Schauspieldirektor for her. In 1788, she went to Munich before moving on to Vienna, where she was engaged for the new National Singspiel. A year later, in 1780, she married Joseph Lange, an actor and painter. In 1782, Lange was made a leading singer of the Italian troupe in Vienna. Disagreements over salary and working conditions ended her position eight months later, and she was transferred to the less prestigious Kärntnertortheater. In 1790, Emperor Leopold II retained her for his

opera seria. She undertook a concert tour with her sister, Constanze, in 1795. Her voice was pleasing but could be weak. Leopold Mozart, the composer's father, writing to his daughter Maria Anna Mozart , said of Lange:

It can scarcely be denied that she sings with the greatest expression: only now I understand why some persons … would say that she has a very weak voice, while others said she has a very loud voice. Both are true. The held notes and all expressive notes are astonishingly loud: the tender moments, the passage work and embellishments, and high notes are very delicate, so that for my taste the one contrasts too strongly with the other. In an ordinary room the loud notes assault the ear, while in the theater the delicate passages demand a great attentiveness and stillness on the part of the audience.

Mozart was well aware of Lange's strengths and weaknesses, using light orchestration and many high notes as her upper range was remarkable. Gebler says Lange was "a splendid singer [with] a tone and an expression that goes to the heart [and] and extraordinary upper range."