Italian Opera in Late Eighteenth-Century London: Volume 2: The Pantheon Opera and its Aftermath 1789-1795

Following on from the volume on the King's Theatre, Haymarket (published by OUP in 1995), this interdisciplinary study of opera and ballet now turns to London's Pantheon Opera during the period 1789-98. The discovery of six cartons of previously unknown manuscripts in the possession of the Duke of Bedford makes possible the rewriting of a hitherto dark and little understood chapter in the history of opera in London. The King's Theatre, Haymarket, burnt down in 1789. To replace it, the fifth Duke of Bedford and the Marquis of Salisbury secretly backed a new opera company, to be housed in the Pantheon, an elegant exhibition hall hastily converted to house the venture. Part 1 of this book tells a tale of intrigue, blackmail, bankruptcy, arson, and high-society infighting against a background of exalted artistic aspirations and genuine love of opera. The Pantheon tried to engage Mozart to compete against Haydn, and hired some of the most notable singers and dancers in Europe. Mismanagement led to huge losses, and the theatre burnt in highly suspicious circumstances in 1792. The backers tried to impose an artistic vision and financial controls on the management of the rebuilt King's Theatre, Haymarket, when opera returned there in 1793, but by 1795 their failure was evident. The second part of the book is a detailed analysis of the opera and ballet repertoire, personnel, management, costumes, staging practices, and finances of the company, based on the Bedford archive and a wealth of hitherto unused sources. What emerges is the fullest operational analysis ever published of any pre-nineteenth-century English theatre or opera company.

1 - The Establishment of the Pantheon Opera
2 - The Pantheon Experiment, 1790-91
3 - The Fire and the Little Haymarket Season, 1791-92
4 - The Return to the King's Theatre, Haymarket. 1792-1795
5 - The Architecture of the Pantheon Opera-House
6 - Departmental Organization, Treasurer, House Servants, and Tradesmen
7 - The Production Process
8 - The Opera
9 - The Ballet
10 - Finances

Gabriella Didericksen graduated from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and subsequently received her Ph.D. from Kings College, London in 1997. She currently holds an AHRB research Fellowship at the University of Southampton, working on aspects of Mozart reception in the nineteenth century, and is also engaged in writing a book on opera at Covent Garden, 1830-1880. Robert D. Hume received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969 and taught at Cornell University. He is currently Evan Pugh Professor of English Literature at the Pennsylvania State University. Judith Milhous received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1974 and taught at the University of Iowa and the University of Maryland prior to joining the faculty of the Ph.D. Program in Theatre at the City University of New York, Graduate Centre, where she is now Distinguished Professor.