Profile

Riccardo Mandelli

Riccardo Mandelli

Research Fellow

Modern Cultural and Intellectual History
Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum
Beethovenstraße 15, Room 3.206
04107 Leipzig

Phone: +49 341 97 - 37110

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Abstract

Riccardo Mandelli is a researcher in the ERC project “Opera and the Politics of Empire in Habsburg Europe” based at Leipzig University, where he is completing a doctoral thesis on the role of opera in the Austrian Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. He previously studied musicology at the University of Milan and completed a master’s degree with a thesis on Ponchielli’s opera "I promessi sposi," conceived as a case study of Milan’s cultural life after Italian unification. In 2026 he is a fellow at the Deutsches Studienzentrum in Venice. His research interests include the cultural history of opera, music journalism, and the role and function of opera in the context of dynastic representation, especially in Habsburg Europe. His research has appeared in academic journals including Verdiperspektiven and Donizetti Studies. With Barbara Babić and Axel Körner he edited a special issue of Donizetti Studies, entitled “Donizetti in Habsburg Europe” (2025).

Professional career

  • since 10/2022
    Ph.D. Student, ERC-Projekt "Opera and the Politics of Empire in Habsburg Europe, 1815-1914", Department of History, University of Leipzig
  • 02/2026 - 06/2026
    Research Fellow, Deutsches Studienzentrum Venedig (Project: Imperial Travels in Habsburg Venetia: Opera, Cantatas, and Dynastic Representation, 1825–1857)

Education

  • 09/2018 - 04/2021
    Master of Arts, Musicology and Performing Arts, University of Milan (Thesis: "I promessi sposi di Ponchielli nella Milano post-unitaria: genealogia e ricostruzione di un successo inaspettato")

  • Mandelli, R.
    Malicious tongues and elusive success. Donizetti’s reception in Milan in the 1820s
    Donizetti Studies. 2025. pp. 31–54.
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  • Babic, B.; Körner, A.; Mandelli, R. (Eds.)
    Donizetti in Habsburg Europe
    Donizetti Studies. 2025. 5.
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  • Mandelli, R.
    L'imperatore e il buffone. Il Teatro La Fenice e le politiche culturali asburgiche nel post-Quarantotto.
    Verdiperspektiven. 2025. pp. 13–36.
    ISBN: 978-3-8260-9596-2
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more publications

  • Opera in Context: Sources, Theories, Methods

    Department of History, Leipzig University (Spring Term 2025)