The business of opera in early modern Bologna: financial and social affairs in Pirro Capacelli Albergati’s notebook for Gli amici (1699)

Abstract

The article analyses the notebook kept by the conte Pirro Capacelli Albergati for the production of the pastoral opera Gli amici at the teatro Malvezzi in Bologna in 1699. Albergati was both the composer of the music and the impresario for the production. The notebook provides not only financial information (the fees paid to singers, the orchestra, the set-designer, etc., as well as the rental of boxes and other revenue), but also contains information on the social context of the production (intermediaries, recommendations, negotiations, rehearsals, etc.). Taking this production as a case-study, the article concludes by arguing that rather than a goal in itself, opera productions functioned as a means for enacting and reinforcing social networks. A full transcription of the notebook is provided in the appendix.