Opera Observed: Views Of A Florentine Impresario In The Early Eighteenth Century

Opera Observed: Views of a Florentine Impresario in the Early Eighteenth Century

From Library Journal The world of opera and opera production in Italy was as fascinating and complex during the early 18th century as it is today. Holmes (music, Univ. of California) provides a look at this period by focusing on the activities of impresario Marchese Juca Casimiro degli Albizzi (1664-1745). Having had access to the Albizzi archives, Holmes presents an in-depth study of the working of an impresario, showing Albizzi to possess the characteristics of a master: a love of opera and a mind for business. Prima donnas, conductors, composers, librettists, set designers, and dancers are all dealt with skillfully. Since one of the composers with whom Albizzi corresponded was Vivaldi, a suggested accompaniment to Holmes's book is H.C. Robbins Landon's Vivaldi ( LJ 7/93), which includes discussions of opera production as experienced by a composer. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.- Kathleen Sparkman, Baylor Univ., Waco, Tex.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. William C. Holmes provides a rare look behind the scenes into the world of early eighteenth-century Italian opera. Based on a rich store of newly recovered documents, mainly the personal papers of Luca Casimiro degli Albizzi, this social history illuminates the complexities of staging opera in the 1720s and '30s: the role of the impresario in planning an operatic season, financial and artistic difficulties, the importance of patronage, the power of individual singers and composers, considerations of set design, and the practice of altering librettos.A member of an illustrious Florentine family, Albizzi (1664-1745) served as one of the principal impresarios of the Pergola, Florence's earliest and greatest opera theater. He also carried on an active correspondence with impresarios in other cities, freely giving his advice on various economic and artistic concerns. Holmes uses the Albizzi family archives-the most abundant and varied material yet available about an eighteenth-century impresario and his theater-to deepen our knowledge of an extraordinary but little understood period in Italian opera. This book will appeal to anyone curious about operatic history.