Seite - 362 - in Musiktheater im höfischen Raum des frühneuzeitlichen Europa - Hof – Oper – Architektur

Juan José Carreras 362 in order to perform regularly at both places on a commercial basis. As in many other European cities, a part of the profits of both houses were assigned to public charities, mainly the Hospital of Madrid, a function secured by a system of performing privi- leges granted to the companies. These two municipal companies were part of a larger system in which the theatrical court activities were integrated in two different ways. First, rehearsal and performance at court of new elaborate theatre plays automatically implicated the suspension of the public performances at the Príncipe and Cruz theatres, as the actors and actresses of both companies were usually involved in these produc- tions. Second, pieces conceived for an occasional performance at a court festivity could later on be adapted and transferred to the commercial theatres, initiating so a second life. Acis y Galatea, for instance, a lavish Spanish play with music by Antonio Literes and a libretto by José Cañizares, was first performed at court in 1708 for a unique royal birthday celebration to be later produced in six different seasons for the Madrid city theatres between 1710 and 1727.18 This theatrical system suffered a partial disruption in the early 18th century as an Italian commedia dell’arte company known as Los trufaldines arrived in Madrid in 1703 to perform for Philipp  V. In addition to their acting at court, the Italian group was per- mitted to give public performances at a stage erected in a yard near the Royal Palace of the Buen Retiro from 1703 onwards. A few years later, in 1708, the Italian actors moved to an old public washing place near the Alcázar Royal Palace, the Lavadero de los Caños del Peral, which was set up as a theatre by the Italian company. Thirty years later, in 1738, a new theatre built in stone replaced the former structure, being the first free-standing building erected in Madrid as a theatre in contrast to the former theatres situated in yards or patios of private houses. It is interesting to note a similar topog- raphy and function in other European capitals in the early 18th century, such as the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna. There the city council decided in 1708 to substitute the provisional wooden ‘comedy-huts’ used by German and Italian touring companies with a permanent theatre built in stone, placed at an open space near a well. In Madrid, the theatre used by the Italians was conceived in the Italian style using perspective scen- ery and artificial lightening, in contrast to the old structure of the Príncipe and Cruz theatres, which used a platform and natural illumination in a similar way to the stages of the English Elizabethan theatres. The first Madrid public performances by Italian actors happened outside control of the city, breaking de facto the established acting privileges of the Spanish companies contracted yearly by the city council. But in spite of the increasing presence of Italian actors and musicians at court during the first third of the century, it was not until the end of the 1730s that Italian opera performances were regularly given in Madrid. It is 18 For a detailed calendar of Madrid 18th-century theatre productions, see Andioc  /  Coulon 1997; excel- lent general surveys of Spanish musical theatre in the 18th century can be found in Kleinertz 2003; Stein  /  Leza 2009; Leza 2014.