Rehearsing an opera in Georgian London

Conference item

What did it mean to rehearse an opera in the Georgian theatre? An obvious question, perhaps; after all, there must be a schedule or timetable of rehearsals to consult, and it cannot be entirely dissimilar to the opera house on the continent - for which we do have records - or that of today, given that we are still performing some of the same repertoire. But like many aspects of Georgian theatre, to say that the available material is only fragmentary evidence would be generous; even very little performing material survives. This paper returns to the few scraps of information that we do have, and suggests a routine that was entirely different to what might be assumed. It will focus, ultimately, on the London opera seasons of 1754-55 and 1755-6, seasons in which the difficulties between the opera promoter Vanneschi and the soprano Regina Mingotti became public in a spectacular manner. The sensational scandals which bedevilled the seasons – Vanneschi was an accused party to a new gunpowder plot, and was separately thrown, bankrupt, into the Fleet prison – tend to obscure the importance of the information revealed by Mingotti about the rehearsal processes for opera.

Authors: Burden, M

• Publication status: Not published
• Peer review status: Not peer reviewed
• Edition: Author's Original
• Language: English
• Keywords: Mingotti; opera; rehearsal
• Subjects: Opera; Performance; 18th Century music