Physicians in opera—reflection of medical history and public perception

Abstract

Music plays an increasingly important part in medicine, such as in specific care for performing artists.1 But what about the representation of medicine in music? A systematic search in theatrical reference books yielded 40 operas from three centuries in which physicians appear on stage (see table on bmj.com). I selected several operas as specific examples in the history of opera. I analysed the role and function of the physician in different categories including the character and importance of his role, his function and basis of knowledge, and his social status. I also looked at the historical context. Opera developed in the late Renaissance and early Baroque.2 There are no doctors in the operas of Monteverdi, Gluck, or Handel, partly because the stories are often based on material from mythology or antiquity. In the 18th century, however, our colleagues enter the stage. Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, premiered 1786) is one of Mozart's great operas. Among the secondary characters is Dr Bartolo, a physician who does not appear in his role as a healer. He is angry with Figaro and threatens to take revenge on him for having once helped to abduct his ward Rosina, who Bartolo wanted to marry. Towards the end of the opera, however, Dr Bartolo sides with Figaro after finding out by chance that Figaro is his lost son who had been abducted as a baby. In Doktor und Apotheker (Doctor and Pharmacist, 1786) by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, the physician Dr Krautmann extols his importance in the introductory aria. The satirical way in which this is done leaves doubt as to his real reputation. Dr Krautmann's son and the pharmacist Stoessel's daughter are in love with each other. When Stoessel finds this out, he tries to marry his daughter off to …

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