The advent of the first permanent theatres in Venice towards the end of the 16th century marks the beginning of a new phase in the history of the performing arts, namely the establishment of the modern theatre as an organisation and management system with commercial criteria. The initiative of the Tron family in 1637 to establish a regular theatre for opera proved to be a successful one. Venice rapidly becomes home to numerous new theatres in the following years. In the period between the 16th and 17th centuries, at least fifteen theatres were built with the intention of being used for Baroque melodrama. Only a few tangible traces of these theatres have survived to the present day. The paucity of available archival sources, in many cases, makes it challenging to accurately reconstruct the original theatre spaces. The Venetian theatrical tradition, based on decentralisation and the monopoly of noble families, resulted in the fragmentation of the heritage of traces, which are currently scattered in public archives, libraries and museums. Tracing the history of Venetian Baroque theatre therefore necessitates an engagement with a fragmented and disseminated heritage, a labyrinthine path whose characteristics can be traced back to the social, economic and cultural context that allowed the birth and development of these theatrical spaces.
Ricostruire la scena barocca veneziana, tra archivi pubblici e privati
Ena, Roberta
2024-01-01
Abstract
The advent of the first permanent theatres in Venice towards the end of the 16th century marks the beginning of a new phase in the history of the performing arts, namely the establishment of the modern theatre as an organisation and management system with commercial criteria. The initiative of the Tron family in 1637 to establish a regular theatre for opera proved to be a successful one. Venice rapidly becomes home to numerous new theatres in the following years. In the period between the 16th and 17th centuries, at least fifteen theatres were built with the intention of being used for Baroque melodrama. Only a few tangible traces of these theatres have survived to the present day. The paucity of available archival sources, in many cases, makes it challenging to accurately reconstruct the original theatre spaces. The Venetian theatrical tradition, based on decentralisation and the monopoly of noble families, resulted in the fragmentation of the heritage of traces, which are currently scattered in public archives, libraries and museums. Tracing the history of Venetian Baroque theatre therefore necessitates an engagement with a fragmented and disseminated heritage, a labyrinthine path whose characteristics can be traced back to the social, economic and cultural context that allowed the birth and development of these theatrical spaces.
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