Carlo Goldoni and the 18th century London stage

Abstract

This is an investigation into Goldoni's working relationship as a librettist with the King's Theatre in London and it covers the period between 1749 and 1793. The King's Theatre was known as the Italian Opera House and Goldoni was invited to write libretti for its productions. This he did successfully - so successfully that he can be said to have become an integral part of the cultural life of an exalted section of London society. The cultural climate in London in the 18th century favoured entertainments such as pantomime, farce and burlesque, that had derived from or imitated Commedia dell'Arte. This liking for traditional theatrical forms was a European phenomenon and had its roots in the theatre of Shakespeare in England as well as in the popular and the classical theatre in Prance. In Italy the Commedia dell'Arte never really died, although in the 18th century Goldoni tried to free himself from it in an attempt to modernise the Italian theatre. But even so, Commedia dell'Arte survived in libretti of the type Goldoni was writing and which proved suitable for Comic Opera. This was the result of an evolution from simpler musical forms such as intermezzi and cantata a llengua and soon rivalled Opera Seria in popularity. In the second half of the century and under the influence of proto-Romanticism comic-opera libretti became increasingly sentimental, a trend which was reflected in Goldoni's own libretti for this type of theatrical entertainment. Comic Opera was evolving in the direction of the type of "melodrama" which was to dominate the theatre of the 19th century. In this context Goldoni's La Buona Figliuola - one of the great successes of the King's Theatre - demonstrates that while preserving links with a traditional past Goldoni seemed to be looking forward to a future development in Comic-Opera libretti, which, dying as he did in 1793, he was not to live to see.