Italian opera it reached the republic of Venice. It was here that the first public opera house, the Teatro di San Cassiano, was opened in 1637 by Benedetto Ferrari and Francesco Manelli. Its success moved opera away from aristocratic patronage and into the commercial world. In Venice, musical drama was no longer aimed at an elite of aristocrats and intellectuals and acquired the character of entertainment. Soon many other opera houses had sprung up in the city, performing works for a paying public during the Carnival season. The opera houses employed a very small orchestra to save money. A large part of
Haiphong Opera House Haiphong Opera House Haiphong Opera House (Vietnamese "Nhà hát lớn Hải Phòng") is a French-built neoclassical opera house on Opera Square ("Quảng trường Nhà hát lớn") in Hai Phong, which was opened in 1912. The first performance of opera in Haiphong was held by a travelling troupe in the Hotel des Colonies in 1888. Later 1895-1897 a touring French opera company in Indochina, featuring Alexandra David-Néel as prima donna toured Haiphong with La Traviata and Carmen. Another touring company, while waiting for the 1902 Exposition of Hanoi to open, came to Haiphong, including Blanche Arral. The French colonial authorities cleared