| Summary: | The present contribution focuses on the forms of competition and interpersonal rivalries evident in the musical profession in Rome during the eighteenth century. The aim is to examine the way in which both the labour market and the framework of musical practice, as well as the changes affecting this professional milieu, conditioned the relationships between individuals and, more specifically, fostered rivalries. The intensification of professional rivalries over the course of the century, considered here within the context of Roman musical chapels and public theatres, can be explained in part by the precariousness and instability of working conditions, as well as the constant need for musicians to seek support in order to promote themselves and establish a career. A musician’s reputation – which increasingly depended on the judgements of a larger and more diverse audience as the century progressed – became a decisive factor in their social and professional standing. The article examines moments of interpersonal conflict reported in places of musical practice. These incidents, which are well documented by institutional archives, diaries, correspondence and periodicals, enable us to see not only how contemporaries perceived artistic rivalries, but also how they tried to control or indeed intensify them.
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