Impresario

Not to be confused with Empresario.

An impresario (from Italian: impresa, meaning "an enterprise or undertaking")[1] is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to an artist manager or a film or television producer. The origin of the term is to be found in the social and economic world of Italian opera, where from the mid-18th century to the 1830s, the impresario was the key figure in the organization of a lyric season.[2] The owners of the theatre, usually noble amateurs, charged the impresario with hiring a composer, for until the 1850s operas on stage were expected to be new, as well as gathering the necessary costumes, sets, orchestra, and singers, all while assuming considerable financial risks. In 1786 Mozart satirized the stress and emotional mayhem in a single-act farce Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario). Antonio Vivaldi was unusual in acting as impresario as well as composer: in 1714 he managed seasons at Teatro San Angelo in Venice, where his opera Orlando finto pazzo was followed by numerous others.

Alessandro Lanari (1787–1852), who began as the owner of a shop that produced costumes, eliminated the middleman in a series of successful seasons he produced for the Teatro La Pergola, Florence, which saw premieres of the first version of Verdi's Macbeth, two of Bellini's operas and five of Donizetti's, including Lucia di Lammermoor. Domenico Barbaia (1778–1841) began as a café waiter and made a fortune at La Scala in Milan, where he was also in charge of the gambling operation and introduced roulette.

Modern use

The traditional term is still in use in the entertainment industry for a producer of concerts, tours and other events in music, opera, theatre[3] and even rodeo.[4] Significant modern impresarios in the traditional sense include Thomas Beecham, Rudolf Bing, Sergei Diaghilev, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Fortune Gallo, Sol Hurok, Aaron Richmond, and jazz festival producer George Wein.

Application of term

The term is occasionally applied to others, such as independent art museum curators[5] and conference organizers,[6] who take a lead role in orchestrating events.

Figurative impresarios

Jacques-Yves Cousteau said of himself that he was an impresario of scientists[7] as an explorer and filmmaker who worked with scientists in underwater exploration. Nicholas Wade described James D. Watson and E. O. Wilson in The New York Times as impresarios of Charles Darwin's works.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ New Oxford American Dictionary. Impresa: enterprise; deed; company: Mondadori's Pocket Italian • English / English • Italian Dictionary. (It is sometimes misspelled impressario.)
  2. ↑ John Rosselli, The Opera Industry in Italy from Cimarosa to Verdi: the role of the impresario (Cambridge University Press) 1984; his history is summarized here.
  3. ↑ Craig Thomas (13 July 2001). "Private Triumph.". Asia Week.
  4. ↑ "Broadway Rodeo". Time Magazine. 18 October 1937.
  5. ↑ "New Impresario for the Showcase". Time Magazine. 24 November 1967.
  6. ↑ Champion of explication through design and design conference impresario Richard Saul Wurman, 2004 AIGA Medalist.
  7. ↑ Jacques-Yves Cousteau on Bartleby.com
  8. ↑ Nicholas Wade (October 25, 2005). "Long-Ago Rivals Are Dual Impresarios of Darwin's Oeuvre". The New York Times.
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