Performing Sovereignty, Sounding Autonomy: Political Representation in the Operas of Maria Antonia of Saxony

Abstract

This article assesses representations of sovereignty in the court operas of Maria Antonia of Saxony, Il trionfo della fedeltà (1754) and Talestri, regina delle amazzoni (1762). I argue that, while clothed in the garb of representational court culture, the princess’s operas are substantially inflected with (then new) ideals of autonomy. The decisive philosophical ideal that individuals are equally capable of moral decision-making eventually enabling self-government is inscribed most frequently in extended displays of interiority, of which opera seria had an established tradition. Situated in the religious milieu of the Dresden court, Maria Antonia’s operas transform Augustinian Christian morality into a framework in which compassion coupled with autonomy becomes a catalyst for societal transformation. As such, her operas curiously interrogate the very power relationships between ruler and subject that opera seria is designed to fortify. Ultimately, these operas display a fascinating and unusual instance of ruler-driven transformation of sovereignty in opera seria during the Enlightenment.

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