The Susan Burney Letters Project

Pacchierotti's Benefit Night [BL. Egerton MS 3691] [fol.75]

            Thursday 9th. March I cd. not call on Ly. Clarges - but in the Evening went wth. Fanny & Charlotte to the O:House. We arrived just as the overture began - our Box was next to the Duke of Dorset’s - & a more charming, comfortable one - I wd. not have changed it for any in the House - Ly. Hales was on the stage of our side - Mrs. Castle& the Ogles< &c in an upper stage Box - Ly. Clarges & Miss Clarges  in the former’s own Box - Ly. Edgcumbe in the Pitt - Miss Bulls - Miss Streatfield- Mr. & Mrs. Locke - Dse: of Devonshire in her Box- Mrs Crewe likewise - Ly.Mary suppose was of our side as I did not see her - Rauzzini sat close to the orchestra - then Mr. Brudenell - Mr. Harris, behind them my - Mr. Mason Father]-  Sir J: Reynolds - Miss Palmer’s - Miss Basil - Mr. Hayes - Ld. Ailsbury in his Boxwith Ld. Ashburnham - Mrs. Fitzgerald, wth. Jack & Miss Tyrawley in a box opposite us - Marchetti wth. her husband, , & MotaTenducci  in the front boxes- in the 1st. Gallery Mr.& Miss Kirwan’s with Mr. &Mrs. Paradise - in short we had the satisfaction of seeing faces we know every where, & indeed a most brilliant House, which will I hope make Pacchierotti amends for his preceding Benefit.

            I saw not Sacchini -yet doubtless he was there, as Pacchierotti was to sing his Se cerca, & not the same as last year’s. -

[fol.75v]

            The opera went off extremely well, & gave me infinite pleasure - Made. Le Brun was feebly applauded indeed, even in her great song - but ‘twas no wonder, for the House was full of Pacchierotti’s friends, & those who feel all his excellence, she can never charm - Pozzi too did not sing so well as usual - but Pacchierotti - Oh! Pacchierotti - How divine He was.

            In His Superbo di me stesso, wch. was ever a great favorite of mine, notwithstanding it was once or twice discoverable that he had a cold, he sung most charmingly - executed the divisions with that freedom & that grace which is peculiar to himself, & expressed the pathetic passages - as he & he alone an express them. - The Duet, which is a fine one was very delightful - in his great scene, Misero!che veggo &c between the Drama the Composition & his performance I was -absolutely melted - I cried as I did at the first serious opera I heard, when Guadagniperformed Orfeo - I never heard any thing more touching, nor shall ever recollect it without Emotion - Ah no, si gran duolo non darte per me yet resounds in my Ears - yet I heard his sweet voice, & such Music it is! - Oh! with how much feeling it is set!! -

            It was felt by the Audience wonderfully - No - Not wonderfully since it was felt only as it ought to be - such a murmur spread, especially from that corner of the Pitt where My Father sat, of whispered bravos as I scarce ever heard - & the moment, nay even before the song was quite done there was a burst of vehement applause, wch. affected me in a new way - indeed I felt sensations [fol.76] very exquisitely delightful - & I cd. write forever about this scene -

            The Quintetto, wch. is very pretty, was very well performed - & the Rondo in the last Act Tu seguiro fedele was I believe never so sung before - Often as I have heard it, I never heard Pacchierotti so perfect in it as this night - it was encored wth. fury & he repeated it in a manner which made it wholly new - most divinely indeed - & it was so applauded, that the scene was changed, & he upon it again before the Audience cd. stop the hands.

            When all was over, & he came forward with the usual ceremonies to bow - there was such as applause as I scarce ever remember - he bowed, & bowed again - & cd. scarce get away - the colour rose in his face, & I really believe ‘twou’d have been a relief to him to have cried -I almost cried myself with pleasure & perturbation -He cd. hardly get away - yet had he not at last retired, the applause for ought I know might have lasted till now, as nobody seemed inclined to give up.

            In the middle of the 3d. Act, while he was standing at one of the side scenes, he saw, & with a sweet smile bowed to us - wch. salutation we with. more than our wonted affability returned - after this he had no rest, as every body was curtsying to him, even when he was on the stage, wch. I saw embarrased even whilst it flattered him - When the opera was over, my father went to him, & found Mr. Mason with him - He seemed very Happy, & sd. the reception he had met wth. that night from such an assembly of his Friends was more grateful to his mind than [fol. 76v] any pecuniary gain was or could be. - for my part I have not been so happy for a great while as I was this night. -

[1] Louisa Clarges, née Skrine (1760-1809), wife of Sir Thomas Clarges (1751-82), 3rd Baronet. She was a particular friend of SEB, and an admirer of Pacchierotti. (LCB i. 352)

[2] Charlotte Ann Burney (1761-1838), SEB’s younger sister [link to family pages]

[3] King’s Theatre, Haymarket.

[4] Overture to L’Olimpiade [link to footnote 7], possibly by Bertoni.

[5] Lady Mary (Coussmaker) Hales, née Heywood (c.1741-1803), widow of Sir Thomas Pym Hales (c.1726-73, 4th     Baronet (LCB i.252-3).

[6] Perhaps the person of this name mentioned in James Harris to CB, 30 June 1772 (see LCB i.121n.).

[7] Possibly George Ogle (1742-1814), MP for Co. Wexford 1786-96, and his wife Elizabeth, née Moore.

[8] Wife of the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe, opera connoisseur and author of Musical Reminiscences, containing an Account of the Italian Opera in England, from 1773, 4th edn. (London, 1834).

[9] Elizabeth (c.1750-1809) and Catharine Susanna (d. 1795), daughters of Richard Bull (1721-1809), MP, and ‘devoted admirers of Pacchierotti’ (LCB i.350-2).

[10] Sophia Streatfield (1754-1835), ‘beauty and scholar’, friend of Mrs Thrale (LCB i.239, 258)

[11] William Locke (1732-1810) and Frederica Augusta Locke, née Schaub (1750-1832), of Norbury Park, Surrey, later to become neighbours and friends of SBP and MP. Frederica Locke became FB’s closest friend. SBP’s and MP’s son Norbury was born at Norbury Park when SBP went into premature labour while visiting the Lockes.

[12] Georgiana, née Spencer (1757-1806), wife of William Cavendish (1748-1811), 5^th Duke of Devonshire.

[13] Frances Anne Crewe, née Greville, (1748-1818), daughter of CB’s patron Fulke Greville; wife of John Crewe (1742-1829). Correspondent of CB and lifelong friend of the Burney family (LCB i.134).

[14] Not yet identified

[15] Hon James Brudenell (1725-1811), later Baron Brudenell of Deene (1780) and 5th Earl of Cardigan (1790). He was a singer and an enthusiastic supporter of the opera and ballet. His wife Anne, née Legge (d.1786) was an amateur singer who had studied with Mingotti (DNB; LCB i. 167; ED ii.109; EJL iii/1 358).

[16] James Harris (1709-80), scholar and MP, and author of ‘Hermes’; an old friend of CB (DNB; LCB i.120).

[17] Charles Burney (1726-1814) [link to family pages]

[18] Revd William Mason (1725-97), poet, correspondent of CB (DNB; LCB i. 39-40)

[19] Sir Josua Reynolds (1723-92), painter. More to come on his career and relationship to the Burney family.

[20] Not identified

[21] Not identified

[22] Dr Philip Hayes (1738-97), Professor of Music at Oxford University fron 1777, or possibly his brother William Hayes (1741-90) (DNB;NG)

[23] Thomas Brudenell-Bruce (1729-1814), 2nd Baron Bruce of Tottenham (1747) had been created Earl of Ailesbury in 1776. He had attended the Burneys’ Sunday musical soirées in the mid-1770s (LCB i. 319).

[24] John Ashburnham (1724-1812), 2nd Earl of Ashburnham, courtier (LCB i. 193).

[25] Mary Fitzgerald, née Fitzgerald, (fl.1779-84), who had in 1779 married John Fitzgerald (1760-1818), a close friend of Molesworth Phillips (LCB i. 420). The family were long-standing friends of the Burneys and had been next-door neighbours in the 1760s (LCB i. 420)

[26] Not identified.

[27] Signora Marchetti (fl.1773-1791), singer. More follows on career, including comments of CB.

[28] Not identified.

[29] Giusto Ferdinando Tenducce (c.1735-90), castrato singer and composer.  More follows on career, including comments of CB.

[30] Not identified.

[31] Friends of the Burney family who lived in Newman Street. Richard Kirwan, FRS (1733-1812) was a chemist and natural philosopher and an amateur musician (DNB:see also SEB to FB, 3-[27] October 1779; LCB i. 289-90, 305).

[32] Dr John Paradise (1743-95), linguist (DNB; LCB i. 464 n.)

[33] Gasparo Pacchierotti (1740-1821), castrato singer. He sang at the King’s Theatre between 1778 and 1780. After a period in Italy he returned to London in 1781 and sang at the King’s Theatre between 1781 and 1784. He was widely admired. He was described by the Public Advertiser as ‘superior to any Singer in this country since Farinelli’, and by NG as ‘the greatest of the late eighteenth-century castratos'. [Click here for more on Pacchierotti].

[34] This reference is unclear. Pacchierotti had only one benefit this season. SB may be referring to Pacchierotti’s benefit during the preceding season on 11 March 1779: Demofoonte, pasticcio arranged by Bertoni, opening night 28 Nov 1778. {CK SB’s journal/letter for that performance & newspapers for receipts}.

[35] Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (1730-86), opera composer (NG, BD). More follows on London career, including comments of CB.

[36] ‘Se cerca, se dice’, Act II of L’Olimpiade [link to footnote 7] {CK SB’s account of the rehearsal for comparison with 1779 version}.

[37] A pasticcio entitled L’Olimpiade, possibly arranged by Ferdinando Bertoni and with music by Paisiello, Gluck and Bertoni, had opened at the King’s Theatre on 29 May 1779. No libretto was apparently published for this production and only four of the arias were issued by William Napier, rendering comparison with the 1780 version difficult. {CK crossref. to SB’s journal}.

[38] L’Olimpiade, pasticcio arranged by Ferdinando Bertoni (house composer at the King’s Theatre 1779-1783), with music by Giovanni Paisiello and Christoph Willibald Gluck; libretto after Metastasio; previous pasticcios based on the same libretto were staged at the King’s Theatre in 1765, 1770, 1774 and 1779; opening night: 9 March 1780, three performances; cast: Pacchierotti - Clistene?, Trebbi - Megacle?, Manzoletto - Licida, De Michele - Aminta, Lebrun -Aristea, Pozzi - Argene. As there is no libretto extant, the disposition of characters is not entirely certain. For a discussion of this production, see Milhous, Price and Hume, Italian Opera [link to Bibliography], i: 246-8.

[39] Franziska Lebrun, née Danzi (1756-91), soprano. More follows on career, relationship to other musical Danzis, and comments of CB, who heard her at Swetzingen in August 1772, London career, marriage to Lebrun, and further comments of CB.

[40] Possibly ‘Tu da mi divvidi’, Act II of L’Olimpiade[link to footnote 7], composed by Bertoni, not included in 1779 pasticcio {CK Metastasio for other possible arias}.

[41] Anna Pozzi (fl.1776-93), opera singer.  She had arrived in London in the autumn of 1776 (BD)  More follows, including comments of CB in Hist Mus.

[42] ‘Superbo di me stesso’ [link to music example], Act I of L’Olimpiade[link to footnote 7]. According to the score published by Napier for the 1779 production this aria was by Bertoni; it was scored for 2 horns, 2 oboes, violins, viola and harpsichord.

[43] Incipit not known, but probably the Act I duet in L’Olimpiade[link to footnote 7]for Pacchierotti and Lebrun by Gazzaniga.

[44] ‘Misero me! che veggo?’, Act II in L’Olimpiade [link to footnote 7], composer unknown.

[45] Probably in April or May 1771, when Guadagni played the title role in a number of performances.

[46] Gaetano Guadagni (c.1725-1792), the celebrated castrato singer for whom Handel wrote many arias and who created the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo (NG, BD). More follows, including his relationship to Handel and to Garrick, his relationship to Gluck and his creation of the title role in Orfeo, his relationship to CB, and CB’s comments on his singing.

[47] Opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-87), first performed Vienna, 1762, first London performance, King’s Theatre, 7 April 1770.

[48] Incipit to quintetto unknown, possibly Act II in L’Olimpiade [link to footnote 7], composed by Sarti.

[49] ‘Ti seguirò fedele’ [link to music example], possibly Act II in L’Olimpiade[link to footnote 7] {according to Milhous, Price & Hume, but SB mentions a third act??}. According to the score published by Napier for the 1779 production this aria was by Paisiello; it was scored for 2 horns, 2 oboes, violins, viola and harpsichord.

[50] {identify scene}.