[ 341 ]
TOC
|
position [sic] was perfectly suited to the talents
of the performers, who, though all good,
yet not being of the very first and most
exquisite class, were more in want of the
assistance of instruments to mark the
images, and enforce the passion, which
the poetry points out.
The public expectation from this pro-
duction of Jomelli, if a judgment may be
formed from the number of persons who
attended this first rehearsal, was very
great; for the pit was crowded, and
many of the boxes were filled with the
families of persons of condition.
The theatre of San Carlo is a noble
and elegant structure: the form is oval,
or rather the section of an egg, the end
next the stage being cut. There are
seven ranges of boxes, sufficient in size
to contain ten or twelve persons in each,
who sit in chairs, in the same maner [sic] as
in a private house. In every range there
are thirty boxes, except the three lowest
ranges, which, by the king's box be-
|
.jpg)