Jonathan Glixon - Böcker

This is the first detailed history of musical activities at Venetian lay confraternities. Based on over two decades of research in Venetian archives, the book traces musical practices from the origins of the earliest confraternities in the mid-thirteenth century through their suppression under the French and Austrian governments of Venice in the early nineteenth century. The first section of the book treats the scuole grandi, the largest and most important of the Venetian confraternities, and the only ones to maintain musical establishments for long periods. The second portion of the book is concerned with the scuole piccole, the numerous less-important confraternities, sometimes as many as 300 of which were active simultaneously, located in churches throughout Venice. Appendices include an attempt to reconstruct a calendar of musical events at all Venetian confraternities in the early eighteenth century, demonstrating the vital role they played in the cultural and ceremonial life of this great city.

Marco Faustini was among the most active and successful professionals in seventeenth-century Venetian opera. As an impresario, he was responsible for every facet of production from contracting the cast to balancing the books at the season's end. Through examination of Faustini's documents - including personal papers, account books, and correspondence - Beth and Jonathan Glixon provide a comprehensive view of opera production in mid-seventeenth century Venice. For the first time, an emphasis is placed on the "physical production," the scenery, costumes, and stage machinery that tied these opera productions to the social and economic life of the city.

In mid seventeenth-century Venice, opera first emerged from courts and private drawing rooms to become a form of public entertainment. Early commercial operas were elaborate spectacles, featuring ornate costumes and set design along with dancing and music. As ambitious works of theater, these productions required not only significant financial backing, but also strong managers to oversee several months of rehearsals and performances. These impresarios were responsible for every facet of production from contracting the cast to balancing the books at season's end. The systems they created still survive, in part, today. Inventing the Business of Opera explores public opera in its infancy, from 1637 to 1677, when theater owners and impresarios established Venice as the operatic capital of Europe. Drawing on extensive new documentation, the book studies all of the components necessary to opera production, from the financial backing of various populations of Venice, to the commissioning and creation of the libretto and the score; the recruitment and employment of singers, dancers, and instrumentalists; the production of the scenery and the costumes, and, the nature of the audience; and, finally, the issue of patronage. Throughout the book, the problems faced by impresarios come into new focus. The authors chronicle the progress of Marco Faustini, the impresario most well known today, who made his way from one of Venice's smallest theaters to one of the largest. His companies provide the most personal view of an impresario and his partners, who ranged from Venetian nobles to artisans. Throughout the book, Venice emerges as a city that prized novelty over economy, with new repertory, scenery, costumes, and expensive singers the rule rather than the exception. The authors examine the challenges faced by four separate Venetian theaters during the seventeenth century: San Cassiano, the first opera theater, the Novissimo, the small Sant'Aponal, and San Luca, established in 1660. Only two of them would survive past the 1650s. Through close examination of an extraordinary cache of documents--including personal papers, account books, and correspondence -- Beth and Jonathan Glixon provide a comprehensive view of opera production in mid-seventeenth century Venice. For the first time in a study of opera, an emphasis is placed on the physical production -- the scenery, costumes, and stage machinery -- that tied these opera productions to the social and economic life of the city. This original and meticulously researched study will be of strong interest to all students of opera and its history.