The “Miraculous” Early Modern Scenic Change in Court Theatres and the Venetian Public Opera
The “Miraculous” Early Modern Scenic Change in Court Theatres and the Venetian Public Opera

Summary/Abstract: The seventeenth-century Venetian opera, and, specifically, Giacomo Torelli, has traditionally been credited with the development of the mechanized scene change system that dominated continental theatres from the early modern courts to the mid-nineteenth century. No seventeenthcentury theatre has survived with its scene change machinery. Until recently scholars have relied upon the few seventeenth-century publications such as Nicola Sabbatini’s Pratica to gain an understanding of the theatrical machinery used in early modern theatres, but this machinery was out of date when the books were published. A number of unpublished manuscripts show how the machinery used to change the scenery in Italian court productions was similar to that used in Venetian public opera houses. The comparison indicates more credit should be given to Italian court architects, such as Aleotti and Guitti, than has traditionally been the case. The article shows the elements of the scene change system that were developed in court theatre and ones that were added by designers in the Venetian public theatre. It concludes with a discussion of the modifications to the system used in surviving eighteenth-century court theatres that still retain their machinery.

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