Opera and Drama in Eighteenth-Century London. The King's Theatre, Garrick and the Business of Performance

In this study, Ian Woodfield explores the cultural and commercial life of Italian opera in late eighteenth-century London. It was a period when theatre and opera worlds mixed, venues were shared, and agents and managers collaborated and competed. Through primary sources, many analysed for the first time, Woodfield examines such issues as finances, recruitment policy, the handling of singers and composers, links with Paris and Italy, and the role of women in opera management. These key topics are also placed within the context of a personal dispute between two of the most important managers of the day, the woman writer Frances Brooke and the actor David Garrick, which influenced the running of the major venues, the King?s Theatre, Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Woodfield has also uncovered new information concerning the influential role of the eighteenth-century music historian and critic Charles Burney, as artistic advisor to the King?s Theatre.

- Important issues of the period examined through primary sources, many analysed for the first time
- Written by a highly-regarded scholar of eighteenth-century opera and early music
- Looks at two of the most important theatre managers of the day and the major venues of the time

CONTENIDO:

List of tables
List of musical examples
Acknowledgements
A note on conventions

Introduction
- The Hobart management
- The new managers take control
- Sacchini andthe revival of opera seria
- Recruitment procedures and artistic policy
- The King?s Theatre in crisis
- The recruitment of Lovattini
- The English community in Rome
- Lucrezia Agujari at the Pantheon
- Caterina Gabrielli
- Rauzzini?s last season
- The King?s Theatre flourishes
- The Queen of Quavers satire
- Financial management
- Opera salaries
- The sale of 1778

Appendices
a The accounts of Richard Yates and James Brooke at Henry Hoare & Co. ( 1773-1777)
b The customer account ledgers of Sheridan and Harris (1778-1779)
c Selectedentries from the account of Jonathan Garton at Drummonds Bank (1778-1779)
d The account of Gasparo Pacchierotti at Coutts & Co. (1779-1784)
e A page of opera payments andr eceipts in the Salt MSS (1780)
a Petition to the Lord Chamberlain (c.1770)
b Petition to the Lord Chamberlain (c.1775)
c Draft petition to the Lord Chamberlain from Sheridan and Harris (1777)
a Journal Etranger, No. 1 (June 1777)
b Opera reviews from Journal Etranger (1777-1778)
Notes
Bibliography
Index