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50-477: The theatre was owned by the Venetian Tron family and was the first ‘public’ opera house in the sense that it was the first to open to a paying audience. Until then, public theatres (i.e., those operating on a commercial basis) had staged only recited theatrical performances ( commedie ) while opera had remained a private spectacle, reserved for the aristocracy and the courts. The Teatro San Cassiano was, therefore,

100-572: A Marco "Truno" dating from 1159. The family had three branches: San Stae (from the Venetian parish of San Stae ), San Beneto (from the Venetian parish of San Beneto ), and Candia (from the Kingdom of Candia , the name of Crete when it was a colony of the Venetian Republic). Mercure de France The Mercure de France was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in

150-516: A concept destined for global diffusion, but which occurs here as public opera for the first time. Indeed, the Teatro San Cassiano can, therefore, be seen as the economic-architectonic prototype of the Italian opera house destined to enjoy enormous fortune over the following centuries. Given the total absence of images relating to this phase of Teatro San Cassiano's history, a document stipulated by

200-600: A group of writers associated with Symbolism who regularly met at the café la Mère Clarisse in Paris (rue Jacob), and which included: Jean Moréas , Ernest Raynaud , Paul Arène , Remy de Gourmont , Alfred Jarry , Albert Samain and Charles Cros . The first edition of the review appeared on January 1, 1890. Over the next decade, the review achieved critical success, and poets such as Stéphane Mallarmé and José-Maria de Heredia published original works in it. The review became bimonthly in 1905. In 1889, Alfred Vallette married

250-471: A monthly with the name Nouveau Mercure galant in 1677. The Mercure galant was a significant development in the history of journalism (it was the first gazette to report on the fashion world and played a pivotal role in the dissemination of news about fashion, luxury goods , etiquette and court life under Louis XIV to the provinces and abroad. The newspaper published propaganda intended to bolster Louis XIV and promote his domestic and foreign policies. In

300-525: A passage referring to the years preceding 1593—and in reference seemingly to either the Tron theatre or the Michiel theatre—the author writes that the nobles “had rented almost all the boxes”. With regard to the date of construction of the Tron theatre, and the presence therein of boxes (an innovative feature from both an architectural-theatrical and commercial point of view), it is noted that somewhat opportunely in 1580

350-457: A radical change occurred in the language of the Council of Ten relating to these theatrical venues, as for the first time a formula had been attested which implies concerns relating to their structural solidity in that they had to be “strong and safe so that no collapse can happen”. Therefore, it would appear that the innovation given by the introduction of boxes as an integral part of the structure of

400-547: A theatrical building gave rise within the Council of Ten to safety concerns. This would explain why the Council ordered that experts had to verify solidity in advance to eliminate collapses and consequent accidents or worse. The Tron theatre (together with the one owned by the Michiel family, located near the Grand Canal) was subsequently closed in 1585 by order of the Council of Ten and emptied of any wooden element that had to do with

450-562: A title ). The gazette played an important role in the " Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns ", a debate on whether the arts and literature of the 17th century had achieved more than the illustrious writers and artists of antiquity, which would last until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and the Mercure galant joined the "Moderns". Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

500-493: Is known, to date, of the Teatro San Cassiano of 1637. As for the artistic life of the theatre, after the performance of La maga fulminata (1638), again by Francesco Manelli and Benedetto Ferrari , from 1639 onwards Francesco Cavalli became the theatre's and Venice's chief protagonist. Cavalli has become one of the most studied and significant opera composers of the seventeenth century because “Cavalli’s operas [...] are not only relevant qualitatively, but they also remain among

550-430: Is well known is that the Teatro San Cassiano was inaugurated in 1637 with the performance of L’Andromeda by Francesco Manelli (music) and Benedetto Ferrari (libretto). The dedication, dated 6 May 1637, specifies that the opera “had been reborn on stage two months ago”. The historical significance of this event is incalculable, as is the commercial practice established of purchasing of an entrance ticket by each spectator;

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600-429: The Mercure brought out the first French translations of Friedrich Nietzsche , the first works of André Gide , Paul Claudel , Colette and Guillaume Apollinaire and the poems of Tristan Klingsor . Later publications include works by: Henri Michaux , Pierre Reverdy , Pierre-Jean Jouve , Louis-René des Forêts , Pierre Klossowski , André du Bouchet , Georges Séféris , Eugène Ionesco and Yves Bonnefoy . With

650-602: The Venetian Republic . The family rose to particular prominence in the 15th century as maritime traders and local rulers in Corfu and Crete . The line had allegedly become extinct by the 19th century. The Tron family moved to France, where it throve and grew in Buchony. At some point, the family divided and a part relocated to the valley of Ubaye and the city of Barcelonnette. By the early 20th century, parts of both branches of

700-550: The 1670s, articles on the new season's fashions were also accompanied with engravings. The August 1697 edition contains a detailed description of a popular new puzzle, now known as peg solitaire . This article is the earliest known reference to peg solitaire. The gazette was frequently denigrated by authors of the period. The name Mercure galant was used by the playwright Edmé Boursault for one of his plays critical of social pretensions; when Donneau de Visé complained, Boursault retitled his play Comédie sans titre ( Play without

750-428: The 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published from 1672 to 1724 (with an interruption in 1674–1677) under the title Mercure galant (sometimes spelled Mercure gallant ; 1672–1674) and Nouveau Mercure galant (1677–1724). The title was changed to Mercure de France in 1724. The gazette

800-671: The French decided to close it definitively. The entire building was demolished in 1812 to make room for houses [...]. Today, the area of the Teatro San Cassiano has become the Albrizzi garden”. The ongoing project to reconstruct the Teatro San Cassiano of 1637 in Venice has been conceived, directed and financed by Paul Atkin, founder and CEO of the Teatro San Cassiano Group Ltd. The project was first devised by Atkin in 1999, but research into

850-542: The Notary Alessandro Pariglia, dated 12 February 1657 more veneto , offers significant insight with regard to the internal structure of the auditorium. In it, the Notary records that before this date there were a total of 153 boxes in the theatre, but that now there remained 102; no reason is given and whether he is referring to the number of boxes in use or their number in total is not clear. The same number of 153

900-512: The Teatro San Cassiano. This was followed by Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne (1640), La Didone (1641), La virtù de' strali d'Amore (1642), L'Egisto (1643), L'Ormindo (1644), La Doriclea (1645), Il Titone (1645), Giasone (1649), L'Orimonte (1650), Antioco (1658), and Elena (1659). Other significant composers, active at the Teatro San Cassiano in the seventeenth century, include Pietro Andrea Ziani, Marc’Antonio Ziani, Antonio Gianettini and Tomaso Albinoni. Indeed, it

950-444: The architect specifies “total boxes: number 31 per tier”, exactly as cited by Chassebras. This total of 153 boxes therefore runs through the history of the theatre from at least the 1650s to the mid-eighteenth century. Given that the first extant testimony dates back to February 1657 more veneto (i.e., February 1658), and in noting that there were no known remakes or renovations between its inauguration in 1637 and 1658, and that further

1000-725: The boxes of the fifth tier those crimes that the Government, in tolerating them, wants at least not to be exposed to the sight of others”, a description that has led to suppose an early state of degradation and decay. The last known season was that of 1798, during which two operas were performed: La sposa di stravagante temperamento (as we read in the libretto, “the music is by Mr Pietro Guglielmi, Neapolitan chapel master. The scenario will be entirely invented and directed by Mr Luigi Facchinelli, from Verona”) and Gli umori contrari (music by Sebastiano Nasolini, libretto by Giovanni Bertati). The last word should go to I teatri del Veneto : “In 1805,

1050-403: The boxes were also a little wider than that of the late-seventeenth-century Teatro San Cassiano: suffice to compare the width the proscenium boxes of the ‘old’ theatre at 104 centimetres against 139 centimetres in the ‘new’ theatre. In 1776, if Giacomo Casanova is to be taken in good faith, the Teatro San Cassiano had become a place where “women of the underworld and prostitute young men commit in

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1100-485: The death of Vallette in 1935, the management was taken over by Georges Duhamel (who had been editing the review since 1912). In 1938, because of Duhamel's anti-war stance, he was replaced by Jacques Antoine Bernard (in 1945, Bernard would be arrested and condemned for collaboration with the Germans). After the war, Duhamel (who was majority stockholder of the publishing house) appointed Paul Hartmann, who had participated in

1150-505: The design of the ‘new’ Teatro San Cassiano—took measurements of “all the theatres in Venice, as well as the one in Padua”. Among these, the precise measurements relating to the ‘old’ Teatro San Cassiano appear. This theatre was characterised by reduced dimensions: the proscenium, for example, was a little wider than 8 metres, while the stage had an average depth of 6.5 metres. The boxes were extremely limited in size, at least by comparison to those of

1200-492: The family moved to México, where it remains and grows to this day, mainly in México City and Morelia, Michoacán. The family's origins are unclear, although 18th-century genealogists, including Marco Barbaro in his Albori de' patritii veneti have proposed that they originally came from Ancona . They are thought to have built the now demolished Chiesa di San Boldo in Venice in the 11th century, and there are records in Venice of

1250-708: The feasibility of rebuilding the original theatre of 1637 in Venice began in earnest in April 2015. This led to the incorporation of the Teatro San Cassiano Group in early May 2017 (near the anniversary of the libretto of L’Andromeda , whose dedication is dated 6 May 1637) and the official launch of the project in June 2019 through an international conference, an exhibition and a concluding concert held in Venice: ‘Teatro San Cassiano: need, solution, opportunity’. The project has received

1300-426: The few about which sufficient documentation has been preserved. Indeed, it should be pointed out that with regard to the first 25 years of Venetian opera production, by comparison to the approximately one hundred surviving printed librettos, only about thirty scores, all handwritten, remain extant today, of which two thirds are Cavalli’s”. His Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo (1639) remains the first fully extant opera for

1350-473: The first public theatre to stage opera and in so doing opened opera for wider public consumption. In 2019 a project, conceived by the English entrepreneur and musicologist Paul Atkin, was announced to reconstruct in Venice the Teatro San Cassiano of 1637 as faithfully as academic research and traditional craftmanship will allow, complete with period stage machinery and moving stage sets. The project aims to establish

1400-553: The formal support of the Comune of Venice. The Teatro San Cassiano Group has announced that a preferred site has been identified and that the appropriate technical-architectural studies are in process. Tron family The House of Tron was a noble family of Venice whose most prominent member, Nicolò Tron , served as the Doge of Venice from 1471 to 1473. Other members of the family served as procurators, senators, generals and ambassadors of

1450-465: The late 1960s but no longer traceable since at least the mid-1970s: With reference to the information given to these Illustrious Magistrates by the Noblemen Tron of San Benetto regarding the intention of opening a Theatre for music, as practiced in some places for the delight of distinguished audiences [...] No image of the theatre of 1637 is extant today: neither of the outside nor of the inside. What

1500-436: The main difference was with regard the deeper stage, achieved by the extending the length of the theatre by demolishing two small houses which, with reference to the ‘old’ Teatro San Cassiano, stood against its end wall located a few metres from the outer curve of the boxes. In the ‘new’ Teatro San Cassiano, the average depth of the stage was slightly less than 9.5 metres, therefore approximately 3 metres more than its predecessor;

1550-539: The nineteenth century to which we are now accustomed, and their widths ranged from about 95 centimetres to c. 120 centimetres in the ‘pergoletto di mezzo’ (central box). The recorded height of the boxes of the ‘primo ordine’ (second tier) was slightly less than 2.10 metres, while for those of the ‘terzo ordine’ (thus, the fourth tier) were just over 1.80 metres. As for the ‘new’ Teatro San Cassiano, inaugurated with La morte di Dimone (1763), music by Antonio Tozzi and libretto by Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz and Giovanni Bertati,

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1600-473: The novelist Rachilde whose novel Monsieur Vénus was condemned on moral grounds. Rachilde was a member of the editorial committee of the review until 1924 and her personality and works did much to publicize the review. Rachilde held a salon on Tuesdays, and these "mardis du Mercure" would become famous for the authors who attended. Like other reviews of the period, the Mercure also began to publish books (beginning in 1894). Along with works by symbolists,

1650-479: The other hand, opera production continued with some consistency at least until the middle of the century, thanks in particular to the long-lasting collaboration with Tomaso Albinoni ; other noted composers who staged their operas at the Teatro San Cassiano in this era were Antonio Pollarolo, Francesco Gasparini, Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, Antonio Lotti, Gaetano Latilla, Baldassare Galuppi . As previously noted, prior to 1765, Francesco Bognolo—the architect in charge of

1700-640: The parish of San Cassiano are mentioned: according to some historians, and based on the roughly rectangular shape of the plot of land on which it stood, the Tron theatre would appear to have been the “egg-shaped” one, with the Michiel in turn being the “round” one. In the cited letter, Tron writes of “expenditure of great significance for the recitation of comedies”, but he also hints at the popularity of his venture: — Ettore Tron to duke Alfonso II d’Este, 4 gennaio 1580 more veneto , transcribed I Teatri del Veneto cit., Tomo I, p. 126 Other than suggesting that

1750-436: The plot of land on which the theatre stood, as far as is known, remained unvaried from 1637 until the 1760s (it measured c. 27 metres by 18.5 metres), it is reasonable to conclude that from the outset the theatre of 1637 had 153 boxes over five tiers (thus, a ground-floor ‘Pepiano’ tier, plus first, second, third and fourth ‘ordini’). In this regard, and to cite contemporary examples even if in remarkably different contexts, both

1800-683: The publication until his death in 1710. The name refers to the god Mercury , the messenger of the gods; the title also echos the Mercure françoys which was France's first literary gazette, founded in 1611 by the Paris bookseller J. Richer. The magazine's goal was to inform elegant society about life in the court and intellectual/artistic debates; the gazette (which appeared irregularly) featured poems, anecdotes, news (marriages, gossip), theatre and art reviews, songs, and fashion reviews, and it became fashionable (and sometimes scandalous) to be mentioned in its pages. Publication stopped in 1674, but began again as

1850-544: The reconstructed Teatro San Cassiano as a centre for the research, exploration and staging of historically informed Baroque opera. The first information relating to a theatre on this site dates back to 1581. The Tron family theatre for commedie is referenced both in a letter sent by Ettore Tron to Duke Alfonso II d’Este , dated 4 January 1580 more veneto (i.e., 1581), and in Francesco Sansovino ’s, Venetia città nobilissima et singolare , in which two theatres in

1900-484: The resistance and clandestine publishing during the war, to run the review. In 1958, the Éditions Gallimard publishing group bought the Mercure de France and Simone Gallimard was chosen as its director. In 1995, Isabelle Gallimard took over direction of the publishing house. Mercure de France has won awards with the following authors: The bulk of this article is based on the French Misplaced Pages article, which

1950-415: The revolution, management was handed over to Charles-Joseph Panckoucke . During the revolutionary era, the title was changed briefly to Le Mercure français . Napoleon stopped its publication in 1811, but the review was resurrected in 1815. The review was last published in 1825. At the end of the 19th century, the name Mercure de France was revived by Alfred Vallette . Vallette was closely linked to

2000-529: The temporary theatre built for the production of L’Ermiona (Padua, 1636) and the theatre in the Great Hall of the Palazzo del Podestà (Bologna, 1639) each presented a total of five tiers of boxes, albeit those of Padua are recorded as being of larger (wider) boxes or “loggias”. As such, the structure of five superimposed tiers is attested in those years beyond Venice and constitutes a type of theatre congruent with what

2050-613: The theatre was well received, this also confirms that theatre-boxes, which would later constitute one of the key architectural elements of the théâtre à l'italienne (an Italianate opera house), were already present in this first incarnation of the venue. This too is confirmed in a letter from Venice by Paolo Mori (agent of the Duke of Mantua), dated 7 October 1581, which mentions the “boxes of those two purpose-built venues”. Additionally, in Antonio Persio's Trattato de’ Portamenti (1607), within

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2100-502: The theatrical nature of the place; the Tron theatre (i.e. the Teatro San Cassiano) was then reopened probably after 1607. Archive documents refer with some continuity to the use of the Teatro San Cassiano for theatrical performances throughout the 1610s. In 1629 and 1633, two fires destroyed the theatre. No known archival documents mention the theatre in the two years 1634–1635. In 1636, the Tron brothers (Ettore and Francesco, of

2150-503: The uncontested arbiter of French arts and humanities, and it has been called the most important literary journal in prerevolutionary France. Thomas Corneille was a frequent contributor to the gazette. The Mercure continued to be published after Donneau de Visé's death in 1710. In 1724 its title was changed to Mercure de France and it developed a semi-official character with a governmentally appointed editor (profits were invested into pensions for writers). Jean-François de la Harpe

2200-466: The ‘Pepiano’, of 29 boxes with two side-entrances to the “platea” (orchestra stalls). This number matches precisely that recorded, decades later, by the Venetian architect, Francesco Bognolo, when he carried out surveys of all Venetian theatres (plus one in Padua) prior to 7 June 1765. In his list of measurements relating to what Bognolo calls the “old Teatro San Cassiano” (dating back to 1696 or further to 1670),

2250-461: The ‘branch’ of the San Benetto family) appear to have communicated to the authorities their intention to open a “Theatre for music”, thus clarifying from the outset its function as an opera house. This, in itself, marks a critical turning point in the history of opera: a theatre built specifically to stage music. This is revealed in a document dated 2 May 1636, reportedly uncovered by Remo Giazotto in

2300-468: Was Gianettini's opera L’ingresso alla gioventù di Claudio Nerone (Modena, 1692), which became the first Teatro San Cassiano co-production of the reconstruction project when it received its modern-day premiere in September 2018, in the castle theatre of Český Krumlov, conductor Ondřej Macek. There is no evidence relating to structural works having occurred during the first half of the eighteenth century. On

2350-414: Was briefly suppressed (under Napoleon ) from 1811 to 1815 and ceased publication in 1825. The name was revived in 1890 for both a literary review and (in 1894) a publishing house initially linked with the symbolist movement. Since 1995 Mercure de France has been part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The Mercure galant was founded by the writer Jean Donneau de Visé in 1672. He directed

2400-545: Was later described by the French Jacques Chassebras de Cramailles in 1683, who wrote in the Mercure Galant that “the theatre of San Cassiano [...] has five tiers of boxes and 31 in each tier”. Noting the characteristics of Venetian theatres in the seventeenth century, it is therefore logical to conclude that the total of 153 boxes is made up of four tiers of 31 boxes each, plus a first “ground-floor” tier, known as

2450-433: Was pushed into the role of champion of the "Anciens", and Jean Racine , Jean de La Fontaine and Jean de La Bruyère (who is famous for a jibe against the gazette: " le Mercure ... est immédiatement au dessous de rien" ["the Mercure ... is immediately below nothing"]) took his defense. The periodical eventually became a financial success and it brought Donneau de Visé comfortable revenues. The Mercure de France became

2500-548: Was the editor in chief for 20 years; he also collaborated with Jacques Mallet du Pan . Other significant editors and contributors include: Marmontel , Raynal , Chamfort and Voltaire . It is on the pages of the May 1734 issue of the Mercure de France that the term " Baroque " makes its first attested appearance – used (in pejorative way) in an anonymous, satirical review of Jean-Philippe Rameau ’s Hippolyte et Aricie . Right before

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