02/28/2026
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had a tense working relationship with soprano Adriana Ferrarese del Bene, who was cast as Fiordiligi in his 1790 opera Così fan tutte. She had a noticeable habit on stage where she would lower her chin while singing low notes and raise her head when reaching higher ones, a physical tendency that did not go unnoticed by Mozart.
While composing for her role, Mozart reportedly wrote an aria that included sudden leaps between low and high notes. These quick vocal jumps required her to constantly shift between the two positions while performing, forcing the same repeated head movement in front of an audience.
Contemporary accounts describe how this caused her head to move up and down in rapid succession during the performance, an effect Mozart is said to have found amusing as it made her appear to be bobbing while singing on stage.
