Seite - 382 - in Musiktheater im höfischen Raum des frühneuzeitlichen Europa - Hof – Oper – Architektur

Juan José Carreras 382 The closure of Farinelli’s opera on Ferdinand VI’s death has habitually been ex- plained by the cliché of a new king more interested in hunting than opera, confirming once again the extraordinary persistence of anachronistic commonplaces in the his- toriography of court opera. As has rightly been emphasized, “the prince’s amusement was not a private matter, but an affair of state” and therefore, from this point of view, personal inclinations should be considered to be secondary.76 In the case of the new king Carlo di Borbone (Charles III of Spain)—the same king who founded the splendid Neapolitan Teatro di San Carlo77—, his decision to close Farinelli’s opera was eminently political, as it related not only to a costly “private diversion” of the former king but also to a kind of entertainment that was losing its original foundational meaning in a rapidly changing world. 76 Riepe 2006, pp.  148–149. 77 On Carlo’s rich and varied opera experiences in Naples precisely documented through his correspon- dance, see Ascione 2006, pp.  59–69.