Festa Teatrale

In 1729, on the occasion of the birth of Louis, Dauphin son of King Louis XV, a 3-Act opera about Emperor Charlemagne was written and staged in Rome by way of celebration.

The libretto for Festa Teatrale was written by the wealthy arts patron and future Pope Alexander VIII, Cardinal Ottoboni. Roman composer (and typesetter) Giovanni Battista Costanzi (aka 'Violoncello') provided the musical score for the production and the set designs were by the noted architect, Nicola Michetti.

14 full-page etchings by F. Vasconi, B. Gabuggiani, P. Piloia, C. Grandi and G. Massi were based on Michetti's stage sets.

The Festival book, Carlo Magno : festa teatrale in occasione della nascita del Delfino : offerta alle sacre reali maestà cristianissime del Re, e Regina di Francia is only available online in pdf format - photocopy of the digitized work - at the University of London Research Library Services (Warburg Institute) website [click on 'festivals' and then the bottom link on the resulting page to go to the information page {it has a timeout setup}] or [pdf - direct download 10Mb]

This short piece (translation) is about the best source of information on the Festa Teatrale book.