Dorothea Wendling

(Maria) Dorothea Wendling, née Spurni (21 March 1736 – 20 August 1811) was a German soprano. Born in Stuttgart, she is remembered for being the singer for whom Mozart wrote the role of Ilia in Idomeneo, re di Creta.^[1] In Mannheim, she also created the roles of Giunia in Niccolò Jommelli's and Mattia Verazi's Caio Fabrizio (1760), the title roles in Tommaso Traetta's Sofonisba (1762) and Gian Francesco de Majo's Ifigenia in Tauride (1764), both on librettos by Verazi, as well as Cleofide in de Majo's Alessandro (1766, on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio), Emirena in Ignaz Holzbauer's Adriano en Siria (1768, Metastasio), Marzia in Niccolò Piccinni's Catone in Utica (1770, Metastasio), Aspasia in Johann Christian Bach's Temistocle (1772, Metastasio), Giunia in his Lucio Silla (1775, libretto by Giovanni de Gamerra) and the title role in Holzbauer's La morte di Didone (1779, Metastasio).^[2]

Dorothea Wendling

In 1752 she married flautist and composer Johann Baptist Wendling.^[3] They had a daughter, Elisabeth Augusta [de] (1752–1794). Her sister-in-law was Elisabeth Wendling (1746–1786). Dorothea Wendling died in Munich.