opera book by BURTOGRAPHY

A Sov er eig n Sp e cta c l e C ourt T heaters of the Eighteenth C entury

Project concept: Glenn A. KnicKrehm Photography: André Costantini Art direction and design: Burt Sun Introduction: Gilbert Blin Text: Susan M. Cole and Erin Doherty Editing: Sarah Upton Delmar, Meret S. Peter, and Andrew Sigel Special thanks to Per Forsström of Drottningholms Slottsteater, Carla Chrisfield, and Arup Acoustics.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010915902

About ConstellationCenter: ConstellationCenter, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest performing arts centers, combining the highest standards of production and performance excellence. With five halls under one roof, ConstellationCenter will be an arts center rich with creative possibilities for opera, film, music, dance, and drama. Research is at the core of ConstellationCenterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s methodology. Accordingly, planning for ConstellationCenter has involved years of meticulous research and development, focusing on the needs of artists and audience members, theater construction, sound design, and historic performance spaces. Upon completion, the Center will serve as a venue for a host of Boston-based cultural organizations, as well as an internationally recognized focal point for performing arts groups from all over the world.

PREFACE As part of ConstellationCenterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s endeavor to build the first fully functioning, baroque-style opera house in North America, we have undertaken extensive research across Europe of the sur viving theaters from that period. We documented their acoustics, size, shape, decoration, stage machiner y, and the less easily measured emotional power of these spaces. In this book, we explore four of these stunningly conser ved eighteenth-centur y opera houses, all of them built by royalty. The theaters are in fascinating settings, rich in histor y and culture, and they offer abundant opportunities for study. We present photographs from our research trips to these exquisite opera houses in France, Germany, and Sweden, and the stories of the patrons whose love for the arts brought these buildings to life. These photographs and stories demonstrate why these four buildings are among the primar y models for our future opera house. In each of these spaces, the attentiveness to detail is unmistakable, as is the effort expended to create a performance space that is special for both audience and artist. ConstellationCenter strives to uphold such sensitivity to detail in our own work. While a book cannot convey the spectacular acoustic experience and breathtaking stage effects intrinsic to these theaters, we hope that in sharing with you the stories of their creators and creation, and the photographic fruits of our own explorations, we can convey our high regard for the science and the art of creating such superb performance spaces. ConstellationCenter extends many thanks to the opera houses at Schwetzingen, Drottningholm, Bayreuth, and Versailles for their generosity in making our research possible. Additionally, we wish to thank Perspectiv, the Association of Historic Theatres in Europe, for their continued support and insight.

Glenn A. KnicKrehm President, ConstellationCenter

INT R OD U CT ION Sovereigns of the eighteenth centur y loved theater. Sumptuous spectacles were shared with their subjects at each tur ning point of their life, from their christening to their lying in state. For the happy occasions, to celebrate a peace treaty or a wedding, staged enter tainments were de rigueur. Theater combined the obligation of the sovereign for public appearances and the desire to confront this reality with the imaginar y realm of the stage. The cour t theaters featured here—fit for princely nuptials, and inaugurated with drama and opera—are among the oldest jewels of the European theater. Built in mid-eighteenth-centur y Ger many, Sweden, and France, and still extant today, they also of fer an over view of the variety in which architects were conceiving these spaces. From the rococo exuberance in Bayreuth to the early neoclassical style in Versailles, through the elegant simplicity of Schwetzingen, and the sophisticated “functionalism” of Drottningholm, the buildings show the evolution of architecture and decorative ar ts during the eighteenth centur y. These glories of European theater architecture are cultural monuments that also reflect the evolution of ideas during the Enlightenment. The east and nor th of Europe, though divided into many principalities, were still under the cultural spell of France and its language. But if spoken drama was mostly per for med by French troupes, musical drama was mostly per for med in its Italian for ms. This ambiguity was also present in architecture. Versailles was the model of the per fect regal residence and architects who received a French training were in favor, but even in France, the Italian masters had been establishing their supremacy in stage machiner y and illusionist stage decorations—and by extension to theatrical architecture as a whole. European theaters therefore tr y to unify the two styles, and the French and Italian influences are melded in these cour t theaters. Inherited from the seventeenth centur y, the French system considered the theater’s space from the monarchist point of view: the king’s place is central. The disposition of the spectators was organized socially, and cour tiers were placed according to their status and position at cour t. In Bayreuth, the sovereign’s central box is ostentatious, and the Versailles royal box is also in the center; both dominate their auditoriums. In these examples, spectators are as much associated with the sovereign as with the stage, as over a third of viewers are sitting in the side galleries perpendicular to the proscenium. Only Drottningholm of fers a unique solution whose radicalism remains a testimony to Swedish ingenuity, by retaining from the French system the for ward-facing benches, but placing the royal boxes on both sides of the stage.

All of these cour t theaters combine their primar y royal function of a space to reflect the princely order with the eter nal use of a theater building: a place for ever yone to enjoy the per for mance on stage. Here the Italian influence is noticeable, defined primarily by a unifying principle, which str uctures the public space with the intent of providing a good visual reception of fiction for the entire audience. Therefore, these auditoriums are organized according to the variety of the ocular illusion that the spectator can have when he looks towards the stage. As the stage decorations have been created to follow the r ules of perspective and trompe l’oeil, the central seat of the r uler is one end of the axis of symmetr y, facing the central vanishing point of the perspective on stage. Such scener y looks quite convincing even away from the axis of symmetr y, as the complex designs based on geometr y allow for an abundance of excellent locations from which to enjoy the stage. Although the symbolic hierarchy of the public was then based on an individual’s proximity to the place of the prince, the audience was united by the communal experience of the per for mance. Bayreuth, Schwetzingen, Drottningholm, and Versailles were intended as festive theaters; the audience—composed of the royals and their attendants—was par t of the show, and as such the architecture of the auditorium and the design of the stage were unified decoratively. In each of these theaters, the proscenium frame enhances the perspective-based décor on the stage. The framework also contributes to the reading of the dif ferent levels of meaning of the image within. Often car r ying the coat of ar ms of the r uler, the proscenium shows that the picture has a royal origin. The ideal world of the stage, enjoyed by the sovereign from his per fect emblematic position, was intended to be shared with all in attendance. The frame acts like one on a painting, designed to enhance the picture on the stage but also to extend its relevance—in these theaters, the symbolism shapes the imagination. Conceived for the audience to see the ar tistic per for mances as much as being a par t of a social one, these theaters of the eighteenth centur y are both the sur viving monuments of a bygone aristocratic elegance, and the sites where literar y and musical excitement can still be brought to its peak.

Gilbert Blin

I have just visited the new opera house. I am delighted with it. The interior is almost complete. In this theater Bibiena has combined the quintessence of the Italian and French styles. It must be said that there is no one better in this field.

Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, May 1748

Bayreuth OFFICIAL NAME: Markgräfliches Opernhaus Location: Bayreuth, Germany Date of construction: 1746–1748 Ruler: Margravine Wilhelmine (1709–1758)

rincess Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine of Prussia was twenty-two when she accepted the inevitability of her marriage to Friedrich of Bayreuth and abandoned her oppressive youth at the royal court in Berlin for her new husband’s provincial residence. Due to diplomatic fumbling, the hope of a promising marriage to the Prince of Wales had dissolved, leaving the royal family with a choice of three minor German princes as potential spouses for Wilhelmine. Nonetheless, like her younger brother and confidante Friedrich the Great, Wilhelmine emerged triumphant from the disappointments of her youth, immersing herself in the arts and humanities and becoming a leading exemplar of the Enlightenment in Germany. At her court in Bayreuth, the new margravine entertained and corresponded with Europe’s leading intellectuals, and from the obscure southern German town created a cosmopolitan setting fit for the artistic and intellectual activities she wished to promote. Her opera house, built between 1746 and 1748, was a favorite project. Even before the Markgräfliches Opernhaus was fully completed, Wilhelmine was sufficiently delighted with its progress to make use of it as the setting for the fairy-tale wedding of her only child, Princess Elisabeth Friederike Sophie. The theater’s architecture and decoration play with contrasting scale and ornament to evoke a world of fantasy. This fantasy is achieved through a procession of contrasting spaces, beginning with a modest exterior designed by the French architect Joseph Saint-Pierre, architect of the Margrave of Bayreuth. From this façade one enters a low foyer, then a stark, highceilinged entrance hall, surrounded by three tiers of balconies purpose-built for spectators to observe each new arrival. After contracting to a narrow,

foyer, then a stark, high-ceilinged entrance hall, surrounded by three tiers of balconies purpose-built for spectators to observe each new arrival. After contracting to a narrow, dark passage, the space expands dramatically as one enters the spectacularly decorated auditorium. Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, perhaps the most celebrated theater architect of his day, designed the interior of this 450-seat theater in a stunning example of Italian baroque style. Here, connections to the everyday world are finally severed. The auditorium is executed nearly entirely in trompe l’oeil painting, with even the grandest columns merely facades with hollow interiors, creating the effect of theater scenery in the auditorium as well as on stage. The stage of the opera house, originally eighty-five feet deep and mirroring the length of the auditorium, remained the deepest stage in Germany for over a century. Carlo Galli Bibiena, Giuseppe’s son, constructed a spectacular collection of stage scenery for the theater. Wilhelmine shared this sumptuous theater with the aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals at the provincial court that she transformed, against all expectations, into a cosmopolitan jewel. Despite Wilhelmine’s many building projects in the city, she remained involved with the opera house even after the building’s completion. In 1754, she collaborated with Andrea Bernasconi on the opera L’huomo, penning the text and six arias. After her death in 1758, the spectacles at Bayreuth slowed, and ultimately the theater was closed. Restored in the twentieth century, today the opera house hosts opera festivals and is open to the public as a museum.

I wish, ere I die, to fulfill yet another duty and to enjoy another comfort: I want to see Schwetzingen again; this thought commands my entire soul.

Voltaire, May 1768

Schwetzingen Schwetzingen

OFFICIAL NAME: SCHWETZINGEN ROKOKOTHEATER Official Title: Rokokotheater Schwetzingen, Location:Schwetzingen, Schwetzingen,Germany Germany

Date of Construction: 1752 Date of Construction: 1751- 1752

Ruler: Elector Carl Theodor (1724–1799) Ruler: Elector Carl Theodor (1724 – 1799)

I I

n 1742, at eighteen years old, Karl Theodor inherited the position of Palatine Prince Elector. With his administrative and diplomatic responsibilities concentrated impressive at Theodor Mannheim, Karl Theodor transformed n 1742,atathis eighteen years palace old, Carl inherited the position of Prince-his summer residence into a palace designed for recreation and diElector of Palatine.at Schwetzingen With his administrative and diplomatic responsibilities version. One ofatthe eighteenth-century patrons of the founder of the concentrated hisgreat impressive palace at Mannheim, Carlarts, Theodor transPalatinate Academy Sciencesat and the Academyinto of Painting Sculpture, Karl formed his summerofresidence Schwetzingen a palace and designed for recTheodor set out to transform a former hunting lodge, an inreation and diversion. One ofSchwetzingen, the great eighteenth-century patrons ofinto the arts, ternationally recognized for the founder of the Palatinatecenter Academy ofarts. Sciences and an academy for painting and sculpture in Munich, Carl Theodor set out to transform Schwetzingen, a In this spirit of pleasure and an patronage of the arts, the tiny,center jewel-like Schlosstheformer hunting lodge, into internationally recognized for the arts. ater was built—in three months time—from a design by French architect Nicolas de Theoffive-hundred-seat baroqueofopera house, by Elector InPigage. this spirit pleasure and patronage the arts, thecommissioned jewel-like RokokotheKarl opened the fall of 1752 with Molière’s Monsieur de Pourceaugater Theodor, was built—in onlyinthree months time—from a design by French architect nac. Nicolas de Pigage. The 450-seat baroque opera house opened in the fall of 1752 with Molière’s Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. The Schwetzingen Schlosstheater is one of very few eighteenth-century theaters that in nearly original condition, the few spectacle and decorativetherichTheremain Schwetzingen Rokokotheater is one and of very eighteenth-century ness of the period is in condition, full evidence: thespectacle stage, with five floor aterscharacteristic that remain in nearly original andinthe anditsdecoratraps for dramatic entrancesofand in isthe stagedesign. machintive richness characteristic theexits; period in shutter-and-groove full evidence in Pigage’s ery forclassical lightning-quick horizontal scene changes; Pigage’s intensification of the Both and rococo elements are present inin the theater’s interior; its decillusion perspective withgilding a sweeping area orationof ofextended sculptures, painting, and took horseshoe-shaped up one-third of theseating project’s and an ornate proscenium. In a truly stunning display performance embellishbudget. The theater as a whole cost nearly four timesof the originally estimated ment, the back of the theater could originally itbeisopened completelythan to a many reveal a amount. Despite its opulence in decoration, more democratic breathtaking view onto the palace gardens, a profoundly contemporaneous theaters, displaying no and special decorativedeepened elementsvanishing on the point. royal seats and featuring three uniform rows of loges that follow the curving The sense of drama and sensitivity to perspective evidenced in the design of the

The sense of drama and sensitivity to perspective evidenced in the design of the Schlosstheater is carried through in Pigage’s design for Schwetzingen’s gardens. by Karl Theodor transform the gardens well as to design the SchwetzinHired decoration, it is moretodemocratic than manyascontemporaneous theaters, ingen opera deftlyelements created aoncoherent that represents displaying nohouse, specialPigage decorative the royalcomposition seats and featuring three a transitional in the European landscape At Schwetzingen, uniform rowsstage of loges thathistory followof the curving walls of thedesign. auditorium. we see a synthesis of the older, rationalist paradigm of the French classical tradition—in, for example, Schwetzingen’s a tightly controlled geometric Pigage intensified the illusion of extendedparterre, perspective that the stage scenery structure of the Baroque—and the newer fashion forfloor the and experiwould havetypical provided withFrench a uniquely slanted ceiling and auditorium of the and English style, deep as embodied in tropes the fauxrenovaruins of a amental heavilyvista decorated strikingly proscenium arch. like Following Roman fort, replicas of Greek andbe myriad fountains. Pigage tions in 1762, the back of the temples, stage could opened completely to unites reveal these a two styles, taking each the to apalace distinctively level of drama and visual excitebreathtaking view onto gardensbaroque and a profoundly deepened vanishment. Similarly, thestunning theater embodies synthesis of conflicting styles, its original ing point, in a truly display ofaperformance embellishment. rococo design overlaid with later neoclassical elements. As in the garden, the synthesis is harmonious. Following Carl Theodor’s inheritance of the position of Prince-Elector of Bavaria, his court moved from Mannheim to Munich in 1778. After this point, The Schwetzingen Schlosstheater was used as a storage facility for greater performances were rarely given at the Schwetzingen Rokokotheater, andthe it was partas ofathe nineteenth but underwent first restoration in In 1937, when used storage facility century, for the greater part of theitsnineteenth century. 1937, other changes, Rococo-style decorations were added thestairoriginal aamong major restoration of thenew theater included structural changes such astonew ornamentation In mid-century, the historic shutter were and groove stage cases and chairs. scheme. At this time, new rococo-style decorations added to themachineryornamentation was removed. Despite a long period neglect tradition in the nineteenth century, original of the auditorium. Theoftheater’s of presenting the theater returned its renewed tradition with of presenting magnificent with the magnificent spectaclestowas the inauguration of thespectacles Schwetzinger inauguration of the Schwetzinger Festspiele in 1952. By reviving forgotten operas Festspiele in 1952. from the baroque era, this yearly festival continues to captivate audiences and keep Karl Theodor’s legacy alive.

One cannot see a lovelier anywhere, and Adelcrantz must be be given thecredit creditfor foraamasterpiece.â&#x20AC;? masterpiece. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lovelier theatre is nottheater to be seen anywhere and Adelcrantz must given Lars Ekeblad

Count Claes Julius Ekeblad, June 1766

Drottningholm OFFICIAL NAME: Drottningholms Slottsteater Location: Drottningholm, Sweden Date of construction: 1764–1766 Ruler: Queen Lovisa Ulrika (1720–1782)

rriving in Sweden in 1744 for her marriage to Swedish Crown Prince Adolf Fredrik, Prussian princess Lovisa Ulrika received the magnificent palace at Drottningholm as her betrothal gift. Lovisa Ulrika was the younger sister of Friedrich the Great of Prussia and Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, two passionately committed eighteenth-century patrons of the arts. Educated, intelligent, and cosmopolitan in her outlook, Lovisa Ulrika brought an Enlightenment sensibility to the Swedish palace, where her young court emulated the French in their choice of diversions. The palace interior was updated in the fashionable rococo style, and Lovisa Ulrika provided her court with an exclusively Frenchspeaking theater troupe and an Italian opera company.

another, equal in size and joined together smoothly. The theater, in its equilibrium, pays elegant tribute to the classical ideal and conveys the dual nature of eighteenth-century court opera, in which opulently dressed courtiers were an integral part of the spectacle. Lavishly equipped with the elaborate scenery and stage machinery required to perform the magnificent operas of the Baroque—including wave, cloud, and thunder machines—the Drottningholms Slottsteater is an exemplary court theater.

When the palace’s original theater burned to the ground during a performance in 1762, Lovisa Ulrika took the opportunity to commission a new building in the emerging neoclassical style. Neoclassicism had gained influence throughout Europe after illustrated reports of extensive archaeological expeditions were disseminated among the educated elite. The style was quickly adopted in progressive Scandinavian circles and appealed to Lovisa Ulrika’s sensibilities. In 1766, the new theater opened its doors to the French troupe for its first performance: Molière’s Psiché.

In 1777, Lovisa Ulrika’s son Gustav III took over the theater from his mother. Breaking with the European tradition honored by Lovisa Ulrika of performing opera exclusively in French or Italian, the young king wrote his own operas, in Swedish and on Swedish topics. As avid a patron of the arts as his mother, Gustav ensured that the Drottningholms Slottsteater housed innovative and spectacular performances, and in 1791, the king ordered architect Louis-Jean Desprez to add a large foyer, called the Déjeuner Salon, to the original building. Tragically, Gustav was assassinated the following year at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. Subsequent royal interest in opera and theater in general, and in the use of the Drottningholm theater, was greatly reduced.

Designed by Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz, the 454-seat Drottningholms Slottsteater conveys neoclassical ideals in its severe, authoritative façade and the rectilinear configuration of its interior. Neoclassical simplicity is also expressed in the décor, with grey and pale yellow walls interrupted with pairs of stucco Corinthian pilasters and with balconies decorated with papier maché. In an illumination of neoclassical symmetry, Adelcrantz designed the auditorium and the stage to be mirror images of one

Abandoned soon after Gustav’s death, Drottningholms Slottsteater stood undisturbed until 1921, when Swedish historian Agne Beijer entered the long-closed building and found the magnificent scenery and stage machinery still intact. After minor restorations, the theater reopened to the public, and from the 1930s to the present day the Drottningholms Slottsteater has hosted an annual opera festival that presents both baroque and modern operas.

I went to see the new theater, which was executed by a great many workmen. It does great honor to M. Gabriel, and it is the first building I have seen universally praised. Its form is unusually elegant, with great richness and beauty in the details of decoration.

Duc de Cro每, April 1770

Versailles OFFICIAL NAME: L’Opéra Royal Location: Versailles, France Date of construction: 1768–1770 Ruler: King Louis XV (1710–1774)

n 1763, King Louis XV of France, entering a period of peace and foreseeing the marriages of his grandchildren, decided to build a permanent opera house on the grounds of Versailles. Since the time of his great-grandfather Louis XIV, opera, music, and dance had been performed in the gardens and in temporary theaters in the palace. Louis XIV had reserved space for a permanent opera house while building a new northern wing in 1685, but he had not found the time or money necessary to bring it to fruition. Seventy-eight years later, in 1763, Louis XV commissioned architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel to design an opera house for the space allotted by Louis XIV. Construction began five years later when Louis XV supplied the necessary funds. The king personally oversaw Gabriel’s building process and stamped the design with his unique aesthetic. Those features the king added included three small boxes covered with latticework grilles at the back of the auditorium: these boxes allowed the occupants complete privacy during a performance. The opera house opened on the day of the wedding of Marie Antoinette and the future Louis XVI, May 16, 1770, with a performance of Persée by JeanBaptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault. The opera house of Versailles provided a setting of characteristically Bourbon magnificence for the lavish performances that had been staged at Versailles since Louis XIV. This space served many ends, as the entertainment needs of the court were diverse. In addition to presenting opera, it could be used to stage plays and orchestral events. The floor of the auditorium could also be raised to the level of the stage, allowing the theater to be transformed into a

The floor of the auditorium could also be raised to the level of the stage, allowing the theater to be transformed into a ballroom. The opera house is constructed entirely of wood—chosen for its acoustical excellence and reasonable cost—that was then fashionably hand-painted to resemble marble. For the 712-seat theater, large by the standards of the eighteenth century, Gabriel chose a truncated-oval shape and used continuous balconies instead of tiered boxes. An ample colonnade, neoclassical in itself, runs above the balconies, but it is lined with extensive mirrors that, reminiscent of baroque tendencies, extend the sober neoclassical procession of columns into whimsical infinity. The ceiling paintings portray scenes from classical mythology, drawing the gods into the festive company at Versailles. The opera house was forcibly closed in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution, and did not reopen until 1837, when King Louis-Philippe redecorated it for a production of Moliere’s Le Misanthrope. The theater subsequently featured in the extravagant festivities surrounding the state visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855. It was later transformed and used by the French Parliament between 1871 and 1879. In the 1950s, the opera house, along with the rest of Versailles, was magnificently restored to its 1770 condition, and has since been used for state, musical, and operatic events.

Markgräfliches Opernhaus

Schwetzingen Rokokotheater

Bayreuth, Germany

Schwetzingen, Germany

Architect(s):

Architect(s): Nicolas de Pigage (1723–1796)

Building - Joseph Saint-Pierre (1708/09–1754)

Date of construction: 1752

Interior - Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (1696–1757)

Opening date: 1752

Date of construction: 1746–1748

Opening production:

Opening date: 1748

Opening production:

Significant productions:

Il figlio delle selve, Ignaz Holzbauer (1753)

Significant productions:

Olympie, Voltaire (1762)

Artaserses, Johann Adolf Hasse (1748)

Stage depth: 125 feet

L’huomo, Andrea Bernasconi and

Auditorium length: 59 feet

Margravine Wilhelmine (1754)

Seats: 450 (today)

Ezio, Johann Adolf Hasse

Stage depth: 85 feet (1748), 67 feet (today) Auditorium length: 86 feet Seats: 450 (1748), 850 (today)

upper image: Markgräfliches Opernhaus lower image: Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (1696–1757)

upper image: Rokokotheater Schwetzingen lower image: Nicolas de Pigage (1723–1796)

Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, Molière

Drottningholms Slottsteater

L’Opéra Royal

Drottningholm, Sweden

Versailles, France

Architect(s):

Architect(s): Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698–1792)

Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz (1716–1796)

Date of construction: 1768–1770

Foyer (1791) - Louis-Jean Desprez (1743–1804)

Opening date: 1770

Date of construction: 1764–1766

Opening production: Persée, Jean-Baptiste Lully

Opening Date: 1766

Significant productions:

Opening production: Psiché, Molière

Significant productions:

Armide, Christoph Willibald Gluck (1784)

Gaston et Baïard, de Belloy (1770)

Stage depth: 46 feet

Electra, Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner (1787)

Auditorium length: 50 feet

Stage depth: 64 feet

Seats: 712 (today)

Auditorium length: 85 feet Seats: 454 (today)

upper image: Drottningholms Slottsteater lower image: Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz (1716–1796)

Castor et Pollux, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1772)

upper image: L’Opéra Royal lower image: Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698–1792)

IMAGE CREDITS

Wilhelmine von Bayreuth: Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg/Antoine Pesne. Carl Theodor: G 1642 Kurpfälzisches Museum der Stadt, Heidelberg, Deutschland. Lovisa Ulrika: Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY. Louis XV: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1990-365-1. Giuseppe Galli Bibiena: © Austrian National Library Vienna, Picture Archive + Image ID. Nicolas de Pigage: Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf – Stadtmuseum, Inv.-Nr. B 141. Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz: Alexander Roslin, Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz, 1716-1796 © the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Ange-Jacques Gabriel: Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.

QUOTE CREDITS Markgräfliches Opernhaus. Bayreuth, Germany. Von Bayreuth, Wilhelmine. Wilhelmine to Friedrich the Great, 14 May 1748. In Friedrich der Grosse und Wilhelmine von Bayreuth: Briefe der Königszeit 1740–1758, edited by Gustav Berthold Volz and Friedrich von Oppeln-Bronikowski, no.172. Leipzig: K.F. Koehler, 1926.

Schwetzingen Rokokotheater. Schwetzingen, Germany. Voltaire. Voltaire to M. Collini, 29 May 1768. In Oeuvres Complètes de Voltaire: Correspondance XIV; Années 1768–1770, edited by Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat Condorcet, no. 5380. Paris: Garnier Frères, 1882.

Drottningholms Slottsteater. Drottningholm, Sweden. Ekeblad, Count Claes Julius. Count Claes Julius Ekeblad, 12 June 1766. Quoted in Gustaf Hillestrom, Drottningholmsteatern förr och nu. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur, 1956.

L’Opéra Royal. Versailles, France. Croÿ, Emmanuel, duc de. Emmanuel, duc de Croÿ, journal entry, April 22, 1770. In Journal inédit du duc de Croÿ, 1718-1784; publié, d’après le manuscrit autographe conservé à la bibliothèque de l’Institut, avec introduction, notes et index, Vol. 2 , edited by Paul Cottin and Emmanuel-Henri de Grouchy, 390. Paris: E. Flammarion, 1906.