The Venetian ospedali, hospitals that cared for the ill, poor, and orphaned citizens of Venice became known in the eighteenth century for their music performances and female musicians. Among the repertoire for these supposed female choirs are works containing tenor and bass parts. This document explores the theories surrounding the performance treatment of the tenor and bass lines in ospedali repertoire with application of each theory to Nicola Porpora’s 1742 collection of mixed-voice works for the Pietà. It examines each theory of male singers, female tenors and basses, omission, substitution, and transposition by discussing old and new commentary involving historical practices, scholars’ research and opinions, witness accounts, and evidence within ospedali scores. Before applying each theory to the five works, Porpora’s compositional style during his Pietà tenure is discussed along with particular features of each work. A brief comparison of ranges and tessituras to selections of Porpora’s non-ospedali works is given, as well as specific compositional elements in some works that may indicate Porpora’s intended performers. The bulk of this study explores the application process of each treatment to the five 1742 works individually and examines their orchestral doubling, vocal pairing practices, text and line independency, range and tessitura issues, and other relevant factors that aid in the success or failure of each method to determine an appropriate approach when performing the works with women’s voices. Transcriptions of the chorus movements from the five works appear in the appendix for reference
