Ephemera, Festivals and Theatrical Representation
The age of the theatre
Gifted singers, talented composers and highly skilled theatrical artists were celebrated all over Europe.
To put on a successful performance, patronage was a necessity: maybe the lavish support of a monarch, munificent noble patronage, or the (sometimes modest) patronage of a civil society, academies or the Jesuit order. Private court theatres, which were fashionable with the nobility of the era, saw stages dominated by famous actors – the celebrities of the time. Celebrated composers were responsible for musical life at court, serving the ever-growing demands for ballet and opera (the earliest performed opera was Monteverdi's Orfeo in 1607). Behind the scenes, highly skilful practitioners were at work: set-designers, painters, architects and engineers, sometimes one person undertook all of these tasks. Giacomo Torelli impressed viewers with his innovative stage machinery. The Bibiena family's virtuoso set- and stage designs and mastery of perspective fascinated audiences and influenced stage- and set-designs throughout Europe. Marionette plays were also very popular, as were scenic effects animated with water or the movements of automatons, which required special engineering skills.
Portrait of Carlo Broschi called Farinelli

c. 1755
Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica
Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Corrado Domenico Nicolò Antonio Giaquinto
Oil on canvas
Farinelli was Europes most influential and celebrated soprano castrato of the Baroque opera stage.