Page - 359 - in Musiktheater im höfischen Raum des frühneuzeitlichen Europa - Hof – Oper – Architektur

Farinelli’s Dream: Theatrical Space, Audience and Political Function of Italian Court Opera 359 almost ubiquitous political presence of Farinelli.8 The figure of the powerful Marquis de la Ensenada at the helm of the luxurious vessel which transports the Spanish King and Queen with a selected group of musicians headed by Farinelli down the Tajo river is in a way a perfect metaphor for the crucial political importance of a series of spectacular feasts and celebrations which took place during these years.9 In this context, political historiography of the reign of Ferdinand VI did not, even in the best case, go further than the occasional and impressionistic use of categories such as ‘feast’ or ‘spectacle’ to suggest the great importance of audiovisual entertainments in court life as repre- sentation and enactment of the Spanish Bourbon state. In the worst case, there was an anachronistic assumption of opera taken as a predominantly aesthetic artistic expres- sion, largely unaware of relevant research done around the political meaning of opera seria as a didactic absolutist trope of sovereignty and a fundamental performative expe- rience of courtiers.10 If something similar happened at the Spanish court, it is clear that it occurred foremost during Farinelli’s period of management, a decade that produced 23 different operas and serenatas for Madrid. Among these productions no fewer than 17 were composed to libretti by Metastasio, an author with the closest connection to Farinelli and whose narratives were perceived throughout the courts of Europe as an all-pervasive and saturated sign of authority and morality. My contribution begins with some general historiographical considerations, which serve as an introduction to an outline of the theatrical landscape of Madrid in the first half of the 18th century, focusing on functional relations between its four main the- atres. Secondly, I will pay special attention to the first experiences of court opera at the theatre of the Buen Retiro palace in relation to the architectonic structure and the two major reforms of the building, which took place during the first half of the 18th century. The last part of this article will be dedicated to the institutionalization of court opera under Farinelli from 1747 onwards, addressing the question of the audience for and political function of these spectacles and the difference with the previous cultivation 8 See the pathbreaking article by Domínguez Rodríguez 2015 stressing the importance of music pa- tronage in the ambit of the Marquis de la Ensenada and his use of opera as a political tool through Farinelli’s court opera, albeit, as will be shown in this essay, Domínguez’s statement of the operas at the Buen Retiro being mainly directed to foreigners cannot be mantained (“el público al que se dirigen las representaciones no es tanto el local, poco acostumbrado a semejantes fastos teatrales  [.  .  .], sino más bien todos los extranjeros que se quedaban admirados de aquellas fiestas,” p.  35). Crucial general political context for Farinelli’s Spanish years is found in Gómez Urdáñez 1996, 2001 and 2017, which includes also critical historiographical evaluation of the different images of the Spanish 18th century. For Farinelli’s decisive biographical step from England to Spain, the best discussion is to be found in Mc- Geary 1998, an article which convincingly shows the intricate contemporary political and diplomatical implications of this move. 9 Between June and July 1754, shortly before his dramatic fall from government, Ensenada, Ministro de Marina y Primer Timonel, acted eleven times as first pilot of La Real, the luxurious flagship of the Aran- juez entertainment fleet. See broschi 1991, p.  309. 10 See Morelli 1987; Feldman 1995 and 2007; Strohm 1997; Traversier 2009.